English Explanatory Dictionary

tank

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A closed container for liquids or gases.
  2. An open container or pool for storing water or other liquids.
  3. A pond, pool, or small lake (either natural or artificial).
  4. The fuel reservoir of a vehicle.
  5. The amount held by a container; a tankful.
  6. An armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a gun designed for direct fire, and moving on caterpillar tracks.
  7. A reservoir or dam.
  8. A structure of tightly overlapping leaves used by some bromeliads to retain water.
  9. A very muscular and physically imposing person; somebody who is built like a tank.
  10. A bouncer or doorman.
  11. A unit or character designed primarily around damage absorption and holding the attention of the enemy (as opposed to dealing damage, healing, or other tasks).
  12. A prison cell, or prison generally.
verb
  1. To fail or fall (often used in describing the economy or the stock market); to degenerate or decline rapidly; to plummet.
  2. To attract the attacks of an enemy target in cooperative team-based combat, so that one's teammates can defeat the enemy in question more efficiently.
  3. To put (fuel, etc.) into a tank.
  4. To deliberately lose a sports match with the intent of gaining a perceived future competitive advantage.
  5. To resist damage; to be attacked without being hurt.
  6. To contemplate a decision for a long time; to go in the tank.
  7. To stand; to tolerate.
  8. To willingly take on an undesirable task or burden.
noun
  1. A small Indian dry measure, averaging 240 grains in weight.
  2. A Bombay weight of 72 grains, for pearls.
name
  1. A city in Tank district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
  2. A district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Pronunciation

/ˈtæŋk/ [ˈtʰæŋk] En-au-tank.ogg /ˈteɪ̯ŋk/ [ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋk] /ˈtɛ̃ŋk/ [ˈtʰɛ̃ŋk]

Word forms

tank tanks tanking tanked

Etymology

From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language, likely Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). Compare the Arabic verb اِسْتَنْقَعَ (istanqaʕa, “to become stagnant, to stagnate”). First attested in the 1610s. * In the sense of armoured vehicle, prototypes were described as tanks for carrying water to disguise their nature and due to physical resemblance. First attested in 1915, but in common usage only as of 1916. Displaced landship, and mostly displaced battlewagon.

Synonyms

battle tank combat tank armour tango

Antonyms

glass cannon

Derived words

antitank anti-tank ballast tank battle tank bobbin tank built like a tank buoyancy tank cavalry tank combat tank cruiser tank cryotank detank dipping tank drop tank drunk tank dunk tank empty the tank expansion tank fast tank female tank fishtank fish tank flail tank flame tank flamethrower tank flexitank float tank flotation tank gas tank gravity tank gunbarrel tank header tank heavy tank holding tank hydrotank Imhoff tank infantry tank intertank in the tank isolation tank landing craft tank leave nothing in the tank light tank main battle tank male tank medium tank microtank nanotank oxygen tank Pachuca tank pannier tank peekaboo tank top petrol tank retention tank saddle tank saddletank septic tank settlement tank side tank subtank

Translations

Bulgarian: цисте́рна Finnish: vesisäiliö Galician: tanque de auga Hungarian: tartály Hungarian: víztartály Khiamniungan Naga: tânyù Tamil: தொட்டி
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