tank

American  

[tangk] / tæŋk /

noun

tanks plural

1. a large receptacle, container, or structure for holding a liquid or gas.

   tanks for storing oil.

2. a natural or artificial pool, pond, or lake.

3. Military. an armored, self-propelled combat vehicle, armed with cannon and machine guns and moving on a caterpillar tread.

4. (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.

5. Slang. a prison cell or enclosure for more than one occupant, as for prisoners awaiting a hearing.

6. tank top.

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verb (used with object)

tanks, present (3rd person singular) tanked, past participle, past tanking present participle

1. to put or store in a tank.

2. (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

1. Slang. to do poorly or decline rapidly; fail.

   The movie tanked at the box office.

verb phrase

1. tank up

   1. to fill the gas tank of an automobile or other motor vehicle.

   2. Slang. to drink a great quantity of alcoholic beverage, especially to intoxication.

idioms

1. 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.

2. in the tank,

   1. failing, doing poorly, or declining.

      His grades were in the tank last quarter.

   2. 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.

tank British  

/ tæŋk /

noun

1. a large container or reservoir for the storage of liquids or gases

   tanks for storing oil

2. 1. an armoured combat vehicle moving on tracks and armed with guns, etc, originally developed in World War I

   2. ( as modifier )

      a tank commander

      a tank brigade

3. dialect a reservoir, lake, or pond

4. photog

   1. 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

   2. any large dish or container used for processing a number of strips or sheets of film

5. slang

   1. a jail

   2. a jail cell

6. Also called: tankful.  the quantity contained in a tank

7. a dam formed by excavation

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verb

1. (tr) to put or keep in a tank

2. (intr) to move like a tank, esp heavily and rapidly

3. slang to defeat heavily

4. informal (intr) to fail, esp commercially

tank More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing tank

• think tank

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tankless
  adjective
• tanklike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tanks
  plural

Participles

• tanking
  present
• tanked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• tank
  simple
• tanks
  simple
• have tanked
  perfect
• has tanked
  perfect
• are tanking
  progressive
• am tanking
  progressive
• is tanking
  progressive
• have been tanking
  perfect progressive
• has been tanking
  perfect progressive

Past

• tanked
  simple
• had tanked
  perfect
• was tanking
  progressive
• were tanking
  progressive
• had been tanking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tank
  simple
• will have tanked
  perfect
• will be tanking
  progressive
• will have been tanking
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

The "Tank Day" promotion was for the chain's Tank Series drink tumblers, touted as having "spacious volume" for a large amount of coffee.

From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026

Gleich also takes issue with also the face of the Stratos project — Shark Tank personality Kevin O’Leary.

From Salon • Jun. 12, 2026

Tank bottoms at Cushing would be a wake-up call that inventories are dangerously low.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026

Starbucks Korea revealed on Tuesday a series of mishaps leading to its heavily criticised "Tank Day" promotion, including the use of AI to develop the campaign, which it said lacked "social and historical sensitivity".

From Barron's • May 26, 2026

Mr. Lemoncello politely bowed and said, very softly, “Tank you. Tank you. Grazie. Grazie.”

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein

Related Words

• pond
• pool
• reservoir