tank

USTANGK/tæŋk/TANK/tæŋk/

Pluraltanks

Verbtanks, tanking, tanked

19 meanings of tank

Practice

1
nouncountable
A large container, closed or open, for holding or storing a liquid or gas, such as the fuel reservoir of a vehicle.
Compressed gas is stored in a steel tank in the basement.
The tanks at the chemical plant are inspected every month.
UsageWhat it holds usually comes first: a water tank, a gas tank, a fish tank.
Similarreservoir, container
2
war vehiclenouncountable
An armored fighting vehicle that moves on caterpillar tracks and carries a gun for firing directly at targets.
A column of tanks advanced under the cover of darkness.
A single tank can hold off an infantry assault for hours.
3
shirt (no sleeves)nounabbreviationellipsis
Short for tank top: a sleeveless shirt with shoulder straps and no collar.
She layered a thin tank under her open flannel shirt.
On hot days he lives in a worn cotton tank and sandals.
Note
Shop copy and casual prose alike drop the “top.” “Earl's Reebok Sale for the Holidays” (1990) offers a “T-back cotton tank,” and Nora Roberts's Tribute (2008) puts a character in “a tank and cotton pajama pants.” Brooke Kato, writing in 2023, reports Gen Z rebranding the garment as the “wife pleaser,” replacing an offensive older nickname.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
The 1990 advertisement titled “Earl’s Reebok Sale for the Holidays” offers a T-back cotton tank. en.wiktionary.org
Nora Roberts wrote Tribute, first published in 2008. content.penguinrandomhouse.de
Tribute describes a character wearing “a tank and cotton pajama pants.” en.wiktionary.org
Brooke Kato reported in 2023 on Gen Z adopting “wife pleaser” to replace the garment’s offensive older nickname. en.wiktionary.org
4
fall sharplyverbintransitive
To fail or fall rapidly, especially when describing the economy or the stock market; to plummet.
The economy tanked within months of the crisis.
Share prices tank whenever investors lose confidence.
Similarplummet, plunge, crash, slump
Oppositesoar, surge, boom
5
nouncountable
The quantity of liquid or gas that a container holds at one time; a tankful.
A single tank of fuel lasted the entire road trip.
They burned through two tanks of propane during the festival.
UsageUsually a tank of fuel, gas or water.
Similartankful
6
shield characternouncountable
A unit or character built mainly to absorb damage and hold the enemy's attention, rather than to deal damage or heal.
Like a bodyguard who draws the danger so the people behind stay safe.
A well-built tank can pin the boss in place while the rest of the party deals damage.
In the game, our tank charged in first and kept the monsters busy while we attacked.
Note
A role rather than a creature: in role-playing, board and video games, the tank stands in front, soaking up damage and keeping enemies busy while others deal damage or heal. Players say a class “makes a decent tank” and judge it by its taunting skills, the abilities that pull enemy attention onto it. Doing the job is the verb to tank.
7
nouncountable
Chiefly in India and Australia, a pond, small lake, or reservoir, natural or artificial, used to store water.
Villagers drew water from the tank during the dry months.
A small tank near the temple supplied the surrounding fields.
Similarpond, reservoir, pool
Note
A pool or small lake can be a tank too, which fits the word's cistern origins better than any metal vessel does. Henry Lawson's Out Back (1893) uses it of outback water holes: a swagman dies of thirst at a dried-up tank, and later the tanks stand full around his bones. Context decides whether a tank is a container or a body of water.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
The word has origins connected with a word meaning cistern. en.wiktionary.org
Henry Lawson wrote Out Back. en.wikipedia.org
The poem was first published in The Bulletin on 30 September 1893. en.wikipedia.org
The poem uses tank for an outback water hole where a swagman dies of thirst after finding it dry. en.wikisource.org
The poem ends with full tanks near the dead man's bones. en.wikisource.org
8
steam enginenounabbreviationellipsis
Short for tank engine or tank locomotive: a steam train engine carrying water in built-in tanks, usually also carrying fuel.
The restored tank hauled tourists along the scenic railroad each summer.
Engineers preferred the tank for short runs between nearby stations.
Note
Railway writers clip tank engine to plain tank and set it against the tender locomotive. In enthusiast prose the noun usually follows a designer's name and a wheel arrangement. R. A. H. Weight, in Railway Magazine (1952), writes of “Stroudley 0-6-0 tanks” and a “Drummond C14 0-4-0 tank.”
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
R. A. H. Weight wrote the cited passage in Railway Magazine in 1952. en.wiktionary.org
Weight used the words “Stroudley 0-6-0 tanks”. en.wiktionary.org
Weight used the words “Drummond C14 0-4-0 tank”, with quotation marks around the class designation C14 in the source. en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

9
muscular personnouncolloquialcountable
A very muscular, physically imposing person, built solidly like a tank.
Her younger brother grew into a total tank after two years of weightlifting.
Two tanks from the rugby team carried the piano upstairs.
Similarhulk, beast, powerhouse
Oppositeweakling
10
lose on purposeverbtransitive or intransitive
To deliberately lose a game, match, or series of games, often in order to gain a later advantage such as a better draft pick.
The franchise tanked the entire season to secure the top draft pick.
Teams that tank deliberately risk heavy fines from the league.
UsageOften tank the season or tank a game, or tank against an opponent.
Similarthrow
Note
Here the loss is a strategy, not a collapse. Michael Farber's “Swede Success” (2006) reports Swedish coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson musing about tanking against Slovakia at the 2006 Winter Olympics to avoid Canada or the Czechs in the quarterfinals. Unlike the plummeting sense, it always implies intent.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Michael Farber wrote “Swede Success”, published in 2006. en.wikipedia.org
The article reports Swedish coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson contemplating tanking against Slovakia at the 2006 Winter Olympics to avoid Canada or the Czechs in the quarterfinals. vault.si.com
11
jail cellnounslangUScountable
A prison cell, or a prison in general.
The officers led the suspect down to the tank.
He sobered up in the tank and was released by noon.
UsageUsually in the tank or the drunk tank.
Similarcell, lockup, jail, clink
Note
American slang for the cell or the lockup, heard most in the drunk tank, where Shane MacGowan and Jem Finer's “Fairytale of New York” (1987) spends its Christmas Eve. Prison writing also has the protective custody tank. Keep it apart from the poker player's retreat: someone thrown in the tank is jailed, while a player in the tank is only thinking.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Shane MacGowan and Jem Finer wrote Fairytale of New York. kirstymaccoll.com
Fairytale of New York was first released in 1987. en.wikipedia.org
The song's narrator is in a drunk tank on Christmas Eve. kirstymaccoll.com
Prison writing uses the expression protective custody tank. prearesourcecenter.org
12
verbtransitive or intransitive
Especially in video games, to absorb attacks or damage without being defeated, often by drawing enemies' attacks onto oneself so that teammates can fight more effectively.
She tanked the boss for the entire fight without dying once.
Good players know how to tank without losing too much health.
UsageTakes the enemy as object (tank the boss) or stands alone (tank for the group).
Note
The verb that goes with the damage-absorbing team role: to tank is to do that character's job in a fight. It also covers simply soaking up blows and surviving, but the usual aim is to pull them away from teammates on purpose, so that others can finish the enemy.
13
fill with fuelverbtransitive
To fill a tank with fuel or another liquid.
The truckers tanked up on diesel before the long overnight haul.
Before every road trip, Dad likes to tank up the car and check the tires.
UsageUsually tank up, often tank up on diesel or tank up the car.
Similarfill, fuel
Oppositedrain, empty
Note
Beyond filling up, the verb also covers keeping a liquid in a tank. Geoffrey Martin's Industrial and Manufacturing Chemistry (1913) notes that oils such as linseed are sometimes tanked for months or years. Builders stretch it further: concrete below ground “must be fully tanked to prevent water uptake,” meaning sealed against water.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Martin's book states that oils, including linseed oil, are sometimes tanked for months or years. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted concrete example has the stated wording and describes protection against water. en.wiktionary.org
14
noundatedUKcountable
A bouncer or doorman who controls entry to a venue.
Similarbouncer, doorman
Note
Dated British slang for the man on the door, extended from the muscular-person meaning, since a doorman is chosen for his bulk.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The bouncer or doorman sense is labelled dated British slang and presented as an extension of the muscular-person sense. en.wiktionary.org
The explanation associates doormen with physical bulk. en.wikipedia.org
15
verbcolloquialSingaporetransitive
In Singapore English, to endure something difficult or unpleasant, or to willingly take on a hard task or burden.
He could barely tank the long shifts at the factory.
Few people could tank that much criticism without quitting.
Similarendure, bear, withstand, take, stomach
16
nounslang
A figurative place a player retreats to while thinking over a decision.
17
verbslang
To spend a long time thinking over a decision before acting.
18
noun
A structure of tightly overlapping leaves that some bromeliads use to hold water.
19
noun
A traditional Indian unit of weight whose value varied by region: generally about 240 grains, but 72 grains in Bombay, where it was used for weighing pearls.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of tank apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Gujarati ṭā̃kī ("cistern"), Marathi ṭāṅkī, or another Indo-Aryan language gave Portuguese tanque ("tank, liquid container"), the source of the English word. The armored vehicle sense, first recorded in 1915, arose because early prototypes were called water tanks to hide what they really were, and because they looked like them.