tank
Americannoun
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tanks
plural
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a large receptacle, container, or structure for holding a liquid or gas.
tanks for storing oil.
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a natural or artificial pool, pond, or lake.
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Military. an armored, self-propelled combat vehicle, armed with cannon and machine guns and moving on a caterpillar tread.
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(in a video game) a category of job classes in a role-playing game, best suited to withstand large amounts of damage from an enemy.
The only decent tank in this game is Warrior, just because the cooldown period for the Paladin and Dark Knight skills is way too long.
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Slang. a prison cell or enclosure for more than one occupant, as for prisoners awaiting a hearing.
verb (used with object)
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tanks,
present (3rd person singular)
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tanked,
past participle, past
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tanking
present participle
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to put or store in a tank.
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(in a video game) to provoke and hold the attention of (an enemy character) so that it does not target other player characters in the party who are less able to withstand large amounts of damage.
If you’re properly tanking this boss, you’ll never let him face your mages.
verb (used without object)
-
tanks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tanked,
past participle, past
-
tanking
present participle
verb phrase
idioms
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go in / into the tank, to go through the motions of a match but deliberately lose because of an illicit prearrangement or fix; throw a fight.
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in the tank,
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failing, doing poorly, or declining.
His grades were in the tank last quarter.
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favoring, colluding, or assisting in a partisan way (often followed by with orfor ).
The talk-show host was in the tank with the Green Party.
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noun
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a large container or reservoir for the storage of liquids or gases
tanks for storing oil
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an armoured combat vehicle moving on tracks and armed with guns, etc, originally developed in World War I
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( as modifier )
a tank commander
a tank brigade
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dialect a reservoir, lake, or pond
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photog
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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
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any large dish or container used for processing a number of strips or sheets of film
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slang
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a jail
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a jail cell
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Also called: tankful. the quantity contained in a tank
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a dam formed by excavation
verb
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(tr) to put or keep in a tank
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(intr) to move like a tank, esp heavily and rapidly
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slang to defeat heavily
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informal (intr) to fail, esp commercially
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tanksimple
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tankssimple
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have tankedperfect
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has tankedperfect
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am tankingprogressive
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are tankingprogressive
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is tankingprogressive
-
have been tankingperfect progressive
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has been tankingperfect progressive
Past
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tankedsimple
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had tankedperfect
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was tankingprogressive
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were tankingprogressive
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had been tankingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tank
First recorded in 1610–20; perhaps jointly from Gujarati tānkh “reservoir, lake,” and Portuguese tanque, shortening of estanque “pond,” literally, “something dammed up,” derivative of estancar, from Vulgar Latin stanticāre (unattested) “to dam up, weaken”; adopted as a cover name for the military vehicle during the early stages of its manufacture in England (December 1915)
Explanation
A tank is a large container for gases or liquids, like a tank of oil. Another kind of tank is an armored military vehicle with a cannon. If you see that kind of tank driving down the road, run for cover! There are two main kinds of tanks. One kind is a container for water, oil, natural gas, or other liquids and gases. Some houses have fuel oil tanks outside or in the basement. The other kind of tank is a large powerful military vehicle. A tank — which has a cannon — rolls across the ground on treads and is heavily armored. Those tanks can roll right over cars and anything else they want to squish.
Vocabulary lists containing tank
World War I
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"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A major recovery effort is continuing after an oil spill caused by the vandalism of a nearby home heating oil tank resulted in the death of 13 birds from Broughshane Waterfowl Park.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
After the war, when the princess decides to defect to the West, a river-barge captain nicknamed St. Peter smuggles her past communist guards in a sealed, nearly full water tank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Kyler Daugherty, a 43-year-old health care worker, summed up the sentiment as he filled up his gas tank in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
By 2040, there could be some 1.2 million fewer workers in the workforce, and as many as 5.6 million fewer jobs, according to a new projection from Indeed’s in-house think tank.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
In the middle of the night, Sofya and the others stumbled out of bed and began to defrost the planes by spraying them with hot water from a tank truck.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Hippos swim in giant glass-fronted tanks, while other vast sections house reptiles and birds -- including penguins.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
People are facing a "painful" and "depressing" few years ahead, economic think tanks have warned, after forecasts showed growth in living standards grinding almost to a halt.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
The seafood stalwart — a Redondo Beach staple since 1953 — is outfitted to withstand small amounts of water, given its live-seafood tanks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Underneath the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, an elevated highway along Manhattan’s East Side, encampments have filled public areas with debris, including propane tanks used for cooking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
They were like enormous tanks for storing fresh water, and they would make life a little easier on the island.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
In Sydney, data centre developer Nextdc tanked more than 40 percent after slashing its outlook and renewing its capital expenditure programme.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
In the end, injuries not only ended that dream but tanked his case for a third consecutive MVP as well.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
The goofy, R-rated “Starship Troopers” famously tanked domestically among adults, but was a notable hit among teen boys, who sneaked into the flick in droves.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Dick’s shares tanked, falling more than 25%, on track for their largest decline on record.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
I clicked up some history on the area, heavily industrial, at least until the economy tanked.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
The chip maker warned of disappointing fourth-quarter revenue and said personal-computer sales are tanking due to soaring costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Hollywood was my tenant pool, and Hollywood was tanking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Advisers don’t see the recent bond selloff as a red flag indicating a tanking economy.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
This week: Situational Awareness—an A.I.-forward hedge fund led by a former wunderkind and OpenAI employee—was tanking fast until a rival fund stepped in.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026
The stocks of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were tanking, and it was clear that nothing short of the U.S. government could save them.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
