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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

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

House Republicans and a conservative think tank requested the memoir interview records in 2024, and the justice department has indicated they will release them by 15 June.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

The think tank found the initiatives - including loans for first-time buyers - had a "limited" impact on social mobility and housing affordability.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

A. The unemployment rate for workers under 35 with a master’s has rarely been higher in the past 20 years, according to the Burning Glass Institute, a think tank focused on the future of work.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

After leaving the central bank in 2011, Warsh, 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 • May 22, 2026

Mr. Golden, still getting maximum usage from his beloved Grade Sorter, raved about the design to one of his former classmates, the director of a big city think tank in Richmond, Virginia.

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