memory bank

noun

: a computer device or component in which information is stored to be retrieved as needed

—often plural

But it turned out the spacecraft's computer had overloaded trying to do two things at once—receive instructions for the flyby while compressing images in its memory banks.

—Kenneth Chang

—often used figuratively especially for the part of the mind in which memories are stored

Here's something I pulled up from the memory bank the other day, after cruising the mystery aisles of my neighborhood bookstore …

—Marilyn Stasio

The same two hormones, it now appears, also prime the brain to take very special note in its memory banks of the circumstance that set off the [fight-or-flight] reaction.

—Daniel Goleman

Examples of memory bank in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Hood Historian, has served as the memory bank for L.A. and its surrounding areas. —Julissa James, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2025

The plot itself fades into the background, but Theron’s fight scenes sear into the memory banks, both lithe and reckless, gloriously choreographed yet sloppily unpredictable. —Will Leitch, Vulture, 8 Feb. 2025

Closely following the sport now requires fans to have a passing knowledge of a 676-page labor agreement, an expansive vocabulary of business jargon, and a deep memory bank of contractual concepts. —Jordan Sargent, The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2025

Everyone who had the good fortune to know Lee Edwards will long remember and greatly miss the conservative movement’s memory bank. —Matthew Continetti, National Review, 21 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for memory bank

• antitank
• interbank
• mountebank
• riverbank
• banc
• blank
• clank
• crank
• dank
• drank
• flank
• franc