tanketten.
/taŋˈkɛt/, U.S. /ˌtæŋˈkɛt/ Military. Now historical.
A small tracked vehicle resembling a tank, but typically without a turret and with lighter armour and weaponry, designed for reconnaissance or infantry support. Also more generally: any small tank or small vehicle resembling a tank.Largely disused after the Second World War (1939–45).
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > military vehicles > [noun] > armed or armoured > small armoured vehicle
tankette1918
Bren carrier1937
1918 Recruiters' Bull. (U.S. Marine Corps) Sept. 15/1 Sergeant Kester knew that a regular tank would never reach Reno, Nevada, so he fixed up this ‘Tankette’, which caused considerable comment when it travelled through the streets as an aid for the Liberty Loan.
1919 Proc. Amer. Soc. Civil Engineers Jan. 5 Problems which had been receiving the attention of the Engineering Division, among the most important of which were..the design of heavy tanks and ‘tankettes’.
1927 Observer 13 Nov. 19/5 The War Office sent a few tanks, tankettes and six-wheelers to perform.
1931 G. le Q. Martel In Wake of Tank xi. 120 He produced a two-man machine with armour protection... These machines were called Tankettes at this time, and they were required to act as scouts.
1943 Times 18 Feb. 5/6 Japanese tanks are of many different types ranging from monsters with 3in. and 37mm. guns down to little tankettes with two-man crews, useful for work on narrow jungle trails.
2012 H. Kochanski Eagle Unbowed ii. 52 A further 500 light reconnaissance tanks, or ‘tankettes’, were attached to infantry divisions and brigades.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1918