food bank
17
1.6
- noun
- /fuːd bæŋk/
:
banco de alimentos
- The food bank was up Bishop Allen Lane, only two blocks from the Y.
- local food bank
- food banks and shelters
So I then came out of prison and then I started working at a food bank.
- So I then came out of prison and then I started working at a food bank.
- I was on the Arizona Association of Food Banks board and, and we used to, there were seven large food banks in Arizona at the time.
- I worked at my at my good citizen job at the food bank.
- Number one, we took a look at who is impacted the most, food banks.
Examples
-
The use of food banks in Canada has increased by roughly 20 percent over the last two years.
Academic text (2011) -
Several scouts stayed to assist the food bank volunteers in sorting the food items onto shelves.
Blog text (2) -
There are plenty of food banks in this country that need volunteers.
-
The number of people using food banks has risen again last year.
-
A couple of years ago, I volunteered to work in a local food bank.
Academic text (2009) -
Throughout the growing season, unsold vegetables are delivered to the local charitable food bank at the end of each week.
Academic text (2018) -
He's hoping Memphians will donate to the food bank to help feed the hungry.
Blog text (10) -
She has no choice but to use food banks, even though she's two-part time jobs.
-
Local animal shelters, home-building groups, shelters, and food banks are always looking for volunteers.
Blog text (14) -
The number of people seeking help at the food bank has gone up 20 to 25 percent this year.
Synonyms
33
1.6
A place that gives free hot meals to people who are poor or homeless
How Organized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an organization/place where food is collected and distributed' is directly derivable from 'food' (substance to eat) + 'bank' in the repository sense (a stored supply). This compound follows a common noun+noun composition found cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The compound noun food bank comes from the idea of a bank as a safe place to keep things and give them out, with food showing what is kept. People bring and store food there, and volunteers give it out 'to those in need', so the name means an organization that collects and shares food.