fog bank

noun

1. a stratum of fog as seen from a distance.

fog bank

noun

1. a distinct mass of fog, esp at sea

Word History and Origins

Origin of fog bank¹

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

But this isn’t a legally enforceable standard—it’s a verbal fog bank.

From Slate

She learns to use her head, and to master fear: “It was as if, for her whole life, she had been dumb and patient, like a milk cow. Now she reminded herself of Query, flicking his ears this way and that, but trotting on. She felt her fear slip away, rather like the morning fog bank receded into the bay and the sunshine lit up the sky.”

From Los Angeles Times

What is meant to sound like an antislavery argument transforms itself in midpassage into a verbal fog bank that descends over the entire subject like a cloud.

From Literature

In a strange way, the Dark Lands reminded her of San Francisco, where her dad lived—on those summer afternoons when the fog bank rolled in like cold, wet packing material and swallowed Pacific Heights.

From Literature

WINTHROP, Wash. — On the worst days, and there have been many, one can see nothing but white — a hot, suffocating fog bank that smells of burning wood and blots out the sun.

From Washington Post