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• think tank
  think tank

  noun

  a research institute or organization employed to solve complex problems or predict or plan future developments, as in military, political, or social areas.
• think-tank
  think-tank

  noun

  a group of specialists organized by a business enterprise, governmental body, etc, and commissioned to undertake intensive study and research into specified problems

think tank

American  

noun

think tanks plural

1. a research institute or organization employed to solve complex problems or predict or plan future developments, as in military, political, or social areas.

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think-tank British  

noun

1. informal a group of specialists organized by a business enterprise, governmental body, etc, and commissioned to undertake intensive study and research into specified problems

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think tank Cultural  

1. An institution in which scholars pursue research in public policy. Largely funded by endowments and grants, think tanks work to improve public awareness of policy issues (through publications) and to influence the government to act upon issues of national importance. (See power elite.)

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think tank Idioms  

1. A group or organization dedicated to problem-solving and research, especially in such areas as technology, social or political strategy, and the military. For example, The congressional leaders rely too heavily on that conservative think tank. This term originated about 1900 as a facetious colloquialism for brain and was given its new meaning about 1950.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• think tanks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of think tank

1900–05 for earlier sense “brain”; 1955–60 for current sense

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

think tank think-tank

Manuel Orozco, an analyst at the Washington-based think tank Inter-American Dialogue, said another reason is the perception that Nicaragua, despite widespread political repression and poverty, is relatively stable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

"It certainly helps lay the groundwork for nuclear weapons in the future," said Imran Bayoumi, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank and former policy adviser at the US Defence Department.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

“The perception in the Trump administration is that Israel is a loose cannon,” said Elizabeth Tsurkov, a senior nonresident fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, a Washington think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

“Sharaa kept Syria out of the Iran war by treating every external pressure as a reason to consolidate at home,” said Nanar Hawach, a senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Mr. Golden, still getting maximum usage from his beloved Grade Sorter, raved about the design to one of his former classmates, the director of a big city think tank in Richmond, Virginia.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

The figures have been much the same for years, both at Gallup and when tracked by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a think-tank.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

There are several possible reasons for the deterioration, suggests Sam Cranny-Evans from the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Paul Johnson, former director of think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, sees this as a positive.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

That could see a left-wing figure like Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband joining any race, Labour's former policy director Andrew Fisher told a think-tank event this week.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

You ought to be sent to Sulphur Springs and get your think-tank hoed out.

From The Uphill Climb by Bower, B. M.