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Glite Dictionary
bottle bank

bottle bank

1 2.7
A large public container where people put empty glass bottles for recycling
  • noun
  • /ˈbɒt.əl bæŋk/
  • UK
translation icon : punto de reciclaje de botellas
  • The bottle bank was full, so we had to wait until the truck came to collect the bottles.

Examples

  • "Do you mind if we stop at a bottle bank?" he asks me.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • She filled her car with boxes of bottles to take to the bottle bank.

  • A lot of broken glass is lying around the bottle bank.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • At the first bottle bank, we climb out of the Mini and each carry a box of bottles, but there's no room to put them; it's all overflowed because last night was New Year's Eve. I forgot to tell you.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • We stopped at the bottle bank to recycle our empty glass bottles.

Surface Forms

bottle bank singular
bottle banks plural

Morphology

bottle + bank

The meaning is compositionally derived: 'bottle' specifies the item and 'bank' functions as a place or repository, so a learner who knows both words can infer a location for depositing bottles. The compound sense of 'bank' as a collection/holding place is common in English and has parallels in other languages, making the MWE readily understandable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Bottle bank comes from the idea of a bank for bottles: big public containers where people put empty bottles to be collected and reused. That's why it now means a public place to leave glass for 'recycling'.