bank v, hence vbl n banking
1 also with ~ up: To weatherproof the foundation of (a building) for the winter by piling earth, branches, straw, or the like against it, or, more recently, covering it with tar paper or plastic sheeting. Nth Cf banking n
1720 in 1896 Canton MA Records 6, Ten Pounds granted . . To Repaire The Roof of ye meeting Hovse and To Bank ye out side of ye scils of sd hovse. 1845 Kirkland Western Clearings 103 MI, “Banking up” is a service rendered very necessary by the severity of our winters and the slightness of our dwellings, and consists in piling earth round the foundations, so as to prevent the frosty winds from intruding below the floor. 1875 Health Reformer 10.318, In the West it is a very common practice to prepare for winter by banking the house with coarse manure. 1895 Daily Huronite (Huron SD) 29 Oct [4]/2 (newspaperarchive.com), Bank your house, batten your barn, and make ready for winter. 1908 MI Farmer 131.358, The pleasing effect of a neat farm house is often marred in the winter by the necessity of “banking up” with straw or sawdust to keep out the frost. 1929 AmSp 5.124, A Maine house. . . was “banked up” in winter to keep the cellar from freezing, pine and hemlock boughs being used and sometimes sawdust. 1949 Winona Republican & Herald (MN) 7 Oct 9/6, [Advt:] High quality red rosin building paper that’s grand for banking the foundation of your home to keep out drafts and cold! 1952 Caldwell Lamp for Nightfall 156 ME, Thede and Howard had already banked the house for the winter and now the leaves were covering the unsightly sawdust. 1975 Stevens Point Daily Jrl. (WI) 19 Mar 15/2, Another way to bank your house is to nail tarpaper or plastic to the sill and drape it to the ground, holding it in place with bricks, rocks or dirt. 2013 Apps Quiet Season 4 WI (as of 1940s), Like most of our neighbors, in late autumn we piled our own version of insulation around the house’s fieldstone foundation. . . When we finished banking the house, we covered the front door with a piece of tarpaper to help keep out the drafts.
2 To store potatoes or other vegetables beneath a pile of earth and mulch. [ bank n1 1] chiefly Sth
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3 also with ~ out: To stack logs, usu at a river bank or landing to await transportation. chiefly Nth See also banking ground(s) n
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