tank

Meaning

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. (Australia, India) A reservoir or dam.
8. A structure of tightly overlapping leaves used by some bromeliads to retain water.
9. (colloquial) A very muscular and physically imposing person; somebody who is built like a tank.
10. (UK, broadly, dated, slang) 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. (US, slang) A prison cell, or prison generally.
13. (slang) A metaphorical place where a player goes to contemplate a decision; see in the tank.
14. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of tank engine or tank locomotive.
15. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of tank top.

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. (transitive) 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. (slang) To resist damage; to be attacked without being hurt.
6. (slang) To contemplate a decision for a long time; to go in the tank.
7. (Singapore, colloquial) To stand; to tolerate.
8. (Singapore, colloquial) To willingly take on an undesirable task or burden.

Synonyms

pond

cistern

reservoir

vat

pool

tub

container

lake

vessel

armored combat vehicle

barrel

basin

bucket

🪣

pail

armored

storage tank

drum

🥁

aquarium

cooler

army tank

keg

armoured combat vehicle

chariot

cask

tankful

sump

receptacle

tank car

water tank

flute

🪈

firebox

bunker

fill up

duct

bulk

armoured

dish

default

dam

beat

armour clad

ark

oil tank

military vehicle

lockup

bbl

panzer

launder

jug

cisterna

Translations

tank

tanque

tanque

citerne

Panzer

tank

char de combat

Tank

réservoir

δεξαμενή

tanc

Behälter

carro armato

char

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tæŋk/

Etymology

From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language such as Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). Compare the Arabic verb اِسْتَنْقَعَ (istanqaʕa, “to become stagnant, to stagnate”).
In the sense of armoured vehicle, first attested in 1915, prototypes were described as tanks for carrying water to disguise their nature as well as due to physical resemblance.