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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

The blueprint has been authored, external by the Re:State think tank which Burnham was involved with until he stepped down as mayor of Greater Manchester.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

It broke ground on just 4,170 housing units in 2024-25, according to data from the Centre for Policy Studies, a center-right think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

"She is an unorthodox choice, as all previous Hungarian presidents had political experience," Peter Kreko, head of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

“They haven’t moved the needle,” said Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

During those chaotic years, as the basic functioning of Kim Jong Il’s government stalled, think tank experts in the West were writing books with doomsday titles such as The End of North Korea.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

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

In an article for conservative think-tank the American Enterprise Institute, Brett Schaefer and Roger Bate acknowledge the risk of stepping away from the multilateral system, especially the withdrawal from the WHO.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

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

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

The think-tank has examined how the technology could help or harm dozens of professions -- from cobblers to sewer cleaners, farmers to tea sellers.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

I've been turning my think-tank on to the Hudson Bay Transport flotation.

From Swirling Waters by Rittenberg, Max