"down the banks" meaning in English

See down the banks in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /daʊn d̪ə bæŋks/ [Ireland] Audio: En-au-down the banks.ogg Forms: down-the-banks [alternative]
Rhymes: -æŋks Etymology: Unknown. Probably of Irish origin. five conjectural etymologies * Notes & Queries, 3rd series, volume 1 (8 March 1862), page 189 posits a connection with "down the khud", supposedly used of a person falling down a precipice in the Himalayas. * Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (1998) suggests falling off the raised bank of a bog into muddy water. * Bernard Share (Slanguage, 1997) suggests a link to "The Banks of my own Lovely Lee", a Cork anthem nicknamed "De Banks". See also: * Laurence Urdang, Walter W. Hunsinger, Nancy LaRoche, Picturesque expressions: a thematic dictionary (1985, →ISBN, page 571 * The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006, →ISBN, volume 1 A–I, page 646 Etymology templates: {{unk|en}} Unknown Head templates: {{en-noun|-|head=~bank􂀿s􂁀}} down the banks (uncountable)
  1. (slang, dated, Ireland, Liverpool) A severe criticism, scolding, reprimand, or punishment. Tags: Ireland, dated, slang, uncountable Synonyms: criticize Synonyms ("down the banks"): a bollocking, a dressing-down, a tongue-lashing Synonyms ("give someone down the banks"): chew someone out, eat the head off someone
    Sense id: en-down_the_banks-en-noun-PMhwQHrZ Categories (other): Irish English, Liverpudlian English

Prepositional phrase

IPA: /daʊn d̪ə bæŋks/ [Ireland] Audio: En-au-down the banks.ogg Forms: down-the-banks [alternative]
Rhymes: -æŋks Etymology: Unknown. Probably of Irish origin. five conjectural etymologies * Notes & Queries, 3rd series, volume 1 (8 March 1862), page 189 posits a connection with "down the khud", supposedly used of a person falling down a precipice in the Himalayas. * Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (1998) suggests falling off the raised bank of a bog into muddy water. * Bernard Share (Slanguage, 1997) suggests a link to "The Banks of my own Lovely Lee", a Cork anthem nicknamed "De Banks". See also: * Laurence Urdang, Walter W. Hunsinger, Nancy LaRoche, Picturesque expressions: a thematic dictionary (1985, →ISBN, page 571 * The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006, →ISBN, volume 1 A–I, page 646 Etymology templates: {{unk|en}} Unknown
  1. (slang, obsolete, New York) In prison. Tags: New-York, obsolete, slang
    Sense id: en-down_the_banks-en-prep_phrase-QIhSbfDa Categories (other): New York English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Prison Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 21 79 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 19 81 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 19 81 Disambiguation of Prison: 0 100
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          "ref": "1855, Albany Register, \"An Independent Voter\" (reprinted in Supplement to the Connecticut Courant, volume 20, number 27, page 211)",
          "text": "Independent woters ain't the chalk—and the K. Ns. has done it!— They've spiled the trade. Sam's done it—Amerikins has done it! Take 'em up for interfeerin' with other people's bisness. Give 'em down the banks; send em up ninety days; give em that,\"—and he struck straight out at an imaginary head, with a force that sent him with a lurch across the sidewalk, up against the side of the buildings."
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          "ref": "1855, Albany Register, \"An Independent Voter\" (reprinted in Supplement to the Connecticut Courant, volume 20, number 27, page 211)",
          "text": "A independent woter ain't the cheese any longer. […] The Stars is out in all kinds o' weather, and if they shines on a feller when he's got half a dozen glasses on board, the Watch-us', Squire Cole, and ten days down the banks, is the word!"
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      "sense": "\"down the banks\"",
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      "sense": "\"give someone down the banks\"",
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  "word": "down the banks"
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Download raw JSONL data for down the banks meaning in English (6.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-02-14 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-02-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 59dc20b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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