a large receptacle, container, or structure for holding a liquid or gas: tanks for storing oil.
a natural or artificial pool, pond, or lake.
Military. an armored, self-propelled combat vehicle, armed with cannon and machine guns and moving on a caterpillar tread.
Slang. a prison cell or enclosure for more than one occupant, as for prisoners awaiting a hearing.
tank top.
verb (used with object)
to put or store in a tank.
verb (used without object)
Slang. to do poorly or decline rapidly; fail: The movie tanked at the box office.
Verb Phrases
tank up,
to fill the gas tank of an automobile or other motor vehicle.
Slang.to drink a great quantity of alcoholic beverage, especially to intoxication.
Idioms for tank
go in / into the tank, BoxingSlang. to go through the motions of a match but deliberately lose because of an illicit prearrangement or fix; throw a fight.
in the tank, Slang.
failing, doing poorly, or declining: His grades were in the tank last quarter.
favoring, colluding, or assisting in a partisan way (often followed by with or for): The talk-show host was in the tank with the Green Party.
Origin of tank
1610–20; perhaps jointly <Gujarati tānkh reservoir, lake, and Portuguese tanque, contraction of estanque pond, literally, something dammed up, derivative of estancar (<Vulgar Latin *stanticāre) to dam up, weaken; adopted as a cover name for the military vehicle during the early stages of its manufacture in England (December, 1915)
OTHER WORDS FROM tank
tankless,adjectivetanklike,adjective
Words nearby tank
Tanizaki Jun-ichiro, Tanjore, Tanjungkarang, Tanjungpandan, Tanjungpriok, tank, tanka, tankage, tankard, tank car, tank destroyer
Tank Battle Kim's death -- a clean version of Kim's Face shot (no head burning or head exploding).
Sony Emails Show How the Studio Plans to Censor Kim Jong Un Assassination Comedy ‘The Interview’|William Boot|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Tank Battle Jeep Guard Crush -- some editorial changes and the removal of all blood when the guards are crushed by the tank.
Sony Emails Show How the Studio Plans to Censor Kim Jong Un Assassination Comedy ‘The Interview’|William Boot|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Tougher regulations on tank cars and oil-by-rail make sense.
Why the Keystone XL Pipeline May Not Be Built|Robert Bryce|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If it is the tank, then it looks reasonably intact, suggesting it did not fail.
Clues From SpaceShipTwo’s Wreckage: Did the Crew Compartment Fail?|Clive Irving|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In battle, it means the ability to shift from suicide bombers to tank columns and maneuver warfare in the span of a day.
Has ISIS Peaked as a Military Power?|Jacob Siegel|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The tank is of wrought iron or steel with strengthening pieces of angle iron.
The Bacillus of Long Life|Loudon Douglas
As the tank was passing our guns a shrapnel shell burst just behind it and above it.
500 of the Best Cockney War Stories|Various
The angle was impossible, so close to the ship, but they did manage to get a corner of the tank on the screen.
Accidental Flight|Floyd L. Wallace
Then came the sound of the explosion of the Florence's second tank.
El Diablo|Brayton Norton
The slow passage through the second tank is intended to give the particles time to settle.
Marvels of Scientific Invention|Thomas W. Corbin
British Dictionary definitions for tank
tank
/ (tæŋk) /
noun
a large container or reservoir for the storage of liquids or gasestanks for storing oil
an armoured combat vehicle moving on tracks and armed with guns, etc, originally developed in World War I
(as modifier)a tank commander; a tank brigade
British and USdialecta reservoir, lake, or pond
photog
a light-tight container inside which a film can be processed in daylight, the solutions and rinsing waters being poured in and out without light entering
any large dish or container used for processing a number of strips or sheets of film
slang, mainlyUS
a jail
a jail cell
Also called: tankfulthe quantity contained in a tank
Australiana dam formed by excavation
verb
(tr)to put or keep in a tank
(intr)to move like a tank, esp heavily and rapidly
slangto defeat heavily
(intr)informalto fail, esp commercially
See also tank up
Derived forms of tank
tankless, adjectivetanklike, adjective
Word Origin for tank
C17: from Gujarati tānkh artificial lake, but influenced also by Portuguese tanque, from estanque pond, from estancar to dam up, from Vulgar Latin stanticāre (unattested) to block, stanch