bank up
verb
- create an embankment
Wiktionary
verb
- To press a mound of something against something else.
- To make a mound to guard against something.
- To bank (form a bank; gather in masses).
“Next, heavy soft clouds, banking up till the sky becomes overcast, are recorded, easily recognised by their lowering appearance, due to the dampness of the air, which also causes them to reflect the glare of large fires or the lights of cities[…]”
“Then turning: "There'll be more rain," he said, "you can see the clouds banking up to the North-West, larger than these."”