tank up

British  

verb

1. to fill the tank of (a vehicle) with petrol

2. slang to imbibe or cause to imbibe a large quantity of alcoholic drink

---

tank up Idioms  

1. Fill a gas tank with fuel, as in As soon as we tank up the car we can leave . [First half of 1900s]

2. Drink to the point of intoxication. F. Scott Fitzgerald used this expression in The Great Gatsby (1926): “I think he'd tanked up a good deal at luncheon.” This expression often is put in the passive, meaning “be or become intoxicated,” as in My roommate really got tanked up last night . [ Slang ; c. 1900]

---

Example Sentences

"I fill my tank up in September every year," he said.

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026

“Some people stop to tank up on fuel.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 3, 2023

Like Larry, most of the people who stopped by the station didn’t fill their tank up all the way, instead putting $10 on pump 5, $20 on pump 3 or $13 on pump 1.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2022

Gas cars can tank up in seconds and return to the track for another couple of hours.

From New York Times • Sep. 3, 2020

Instead of a rectangular tank up aloft, we now have a large copper cylinder situated in the kitchen near the range.

From How it Works Dealing in simple language with steam, electricity, light, heat, sound, hydraulics, optics, etc., and with their applications to apparatus in common use by Williams, Archibald