think tank

American  

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of think tank

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

Example Sentences

The European Centre for International Political Economy, a global think tank, noted that the U.S. led in investment in the quantum private sector in 2024, at 44% of global funding.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

Since leaving the central bank in 2011, Warsh has, among other things, served as a lecturer at Stanford University’s business school and as a visiting fellow at the university’s Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

Simon Clarke, the director of the Onward think tank and a former Conservative minister, said the Lib Dem proposal "sounds totally mad".

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

More than 60% of those fast-attack craft and speedboat vessels remain intact and continue to pose a threat, according to Farzin Nadimi, an Iran-focused senior fellow with the Washington Institute, a U.S.-based think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

This particular think tank was the Thornton Unified Research and Development Institute.

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