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

Making digital or physical memory banks or time capsules to store your precious moments can prompt you to revisit them and remind yourself that good times exist and tough ones don't last forever. —Mark Travers, Forbes, 17 Feb. 2024

In this case, the microbes’ immune system, dubbed CRISPR-Cas, or more casually, just CRISPR, shreds any viral genome that matches the sequences in their molecular memory banks. —Amber Dance, Discover Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024

Dedicated graphics cards provide the computer with a separate memory bank for running graphics and video, while integrated cards use the machine’s existing processor, sharing the load with the central processing unit, or CPU. —Kevin Cortez, Popular Mechanics, 24 Feb. 2023

Thankfully, Ahsoka does a mostly commendable job of appeasing both ends of the Star Wars fandom spectrum: those with an extensive memory bank on all things Tano, and those grasping the character’s history for the first time. —Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 23 Aug. 2023

And no doubt, the memory banks for all of them were going full throttle Thursday at West Aurora. —Rick Armstrong, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2023

For my sister and me, the annual emergence of the holiday Dessert Porch and the constancy of my mother’s desserts created a rich, comforting memory bank of feasting on Southern delicacies, surrounded by family and friends in a happy and secure home — something my mother lost as a young teen. —Clorisa Phillips, ajc, 20 Dec. 2022

Cute, feisty and adorably unintelligible, Babu snagged some Sith secrets out of C-3PO's memory banks and stole our heart in the process. 61. —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 24 May 2023

The presentation included details the company did not want a third party to be aware of, which would be contained within the bot's memory banks for a time. —Christopher Hutton, Washington Examiner, 2 May 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined above