tank

• IPA^(key): /tæŋk/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋk

From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), originally from Indian vernacular for a large artificial water reservoir, cistern, pool, etc., for example, Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī) or Marathi टाकी (ṭākī). Compare the Arabic verb اِسْتَنْقَعَ‎ (istanqaʿa, “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.

tank (plural tanks)

1. A closed container for liquids or gases.
   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, Sydney: Ure Smith, published 1962, OCLC 751607287, page 29:

     The other room was a kitchen, with an open fireplace, a safe, a dresser and a tin sink, with a tap from the tank outside.

2. An open container or pool for storing water or other liquids.
3. A pond, pool, or small lake, natural or artificial.
   • 1896, Henry Lawson, Out Back

     The tanks are full and the grass is high.

4. The fuel reservoir of a vehicle.
5. The amount held by a container; a tankful.

   I burned three tanks of gas on the drive to New York.

6. An armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a gun, and moving on caterpillar tracks.
7. (Australia, India) A reservoir or dam.
8. (Southwestern US, chiefly Texas) A large metal container for holding drinking water for animals, usually placed near a wind-driven water pump, in an animal pen or field.
9. (Southwestern US, chiefly Texas) By extension a small pond for the same purpose.
10. (slang) A very muscular and physically imposing person. Somebody who is built like a tank.
11. (role-playing games, board games, video games) 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. (poker, slang) A metaphorical place where a player goes to contemplate a decision; see in the tank.
14. (rail transport) Short for tank engine and tank locomotive.
    • 1941 September, “The Why and the Wherefore: The Longest Tank Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, pages 431-432:

      Before their conversion to 4-6-0 tender locomotives, the L.B. & S.C.R. Baltic tank engines Nos. 330 to 334 measured 50 ft. 5 in. over buffers; the nearest present approach to this figure is the 49 ft. 10½ in. of the remaining ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Hughes type 4-cylinder 4-6-4 tanks of the L.M.S.R. The Furness and G. & S.W.R. 4-6-4 tanks of the same company, all now scrapped, were, respectively, 49 ft. 1½ in. and 47 ft. 8 in. long.

• (military fighting vehicle): battle tank, combat tank, armour (mass noun), tango (Canadian military slang)

• (gaming): glass cannon

• (military fighting vehicle): armoured fighting vehicle, armored fighting vehicle, AFV, armoured combat vehicle, armored combat vehicle

• (military fighting vehicle): infantry tank (historical), cavalry tank (historical), fast tank (historical), cruiser tank (historical), superheavy tank (historical), tankette (historical), bobbin tank (historical), light tank, medium tank, heavy tank, main battle tank, MBT, flail tank, flame tank, flamethrower tank

• (military fighting vehicle): armoured car, armoured train, armoured personnel carrier, armored personnel carrier, APC, infantry fighting vehicle, IFV, self-propelled gun, SPG, tank destroyer, assault gun

tank (third-person singular simple present tanks, present participle tanking, simple past and past participle tanked)

1. To fail or fall (often used in describing the economy or the stock market); to degenerate or decline rapidly; to plummet.
   • 2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, ISSN 1054-4836, page 112:

     He told me about all the odd jobs he'd taken after I was born, when Michigan's economy was tanking. For one, he crisscrossed the Midwest buying old carpets from dentists' offices.

   • 2022 October 5, “Network News: Private sector's role in a publicly-owned railway”, in RAIL, number 967, page 16:

     "[...] If the economy has tanked... then we don't want to over-promise and under-deliver."

2. (video games) 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.
   • 1913, Geoffrey Martin, Industrial and manufacturing chemistry:

     Sometimes oils are tanked for months or years at a time (e.g., linseed oil).

4. To deliberately lose a sports match with the intent of gaining a perceived future competitive advantage.
   • 2006 March 6, Farber, Michael, “Swede Success”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, Sports Illustrated, archived from the original on 4 November 2012, retrieved February 5, 2011:

     Beforehand, Swedish [national ice hockey team] coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson had ruminated about tanking against Slovakia to avoid powerful Canada or the Czechs in the quarters [i.e., quarterfinals of the 2006 Winter Olympic tournament], telling Swedish television, "One is cholera, the other the plague."

5. (fandom slang) To resist damage; to be attacked without being hurt.
   • 2015 March 1, DudeFuckMath, “Bane [DC] vs Iron Fist [Marvel]”, in Reddit (r/whowouldwin)‎, retrieved 2017-06-19:

     Unless Bane can tank Helicarrier-busting explosions I'm not sure how he stands a chance.

   • 2016 June 2, MercinWithAMouth, “Superman Stongest Feat Ever”, in Comic Vine Forums‎, retrieved 2017-06-19:

     A weakened Superman tanked an explosion 50 times larger than the Kepler's Supernova and the electromagnetic shock wave hit him.

   • 2016 July 22, Si-Phon Dom, “Big Barda Vs She Hulk”, in Comics Amino‎, retrieved 2017-06-19:

     Barda could BFR and I doubt She hulk is tanking a blow from her rod, so she takes.

6. (poker, slang) To contemplate a decision for a long time; to go in the tank.

• tank up

tank (plural tanks)

1. A small Indian dry measure, averaging 240 grains in weight.
2. A Bombay weight of 72 grains, for pearls[1].

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tank (third-person singular simple present tanks, present participle tanking, simple past and past participle tanked)

1. (Singapore, informal) To stand; to tolerate.

• buay tank

• tank on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Kant

tank

1. (Gressoney) thank you

• dankche
• fergälts Got
• merci
• vrattrus Got
• wol vergelzgott

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Internationalism. From English tank, from Portuguese tanque, from Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī), from Marathi टाकी (ṭākī), ultimately from Sanskrit तडग (taḍaga, “pond”).

tank (definite accusative tankı, plural tanklar)

1. tank

• “tank” in Obastan.com.

• IPA^(key): [ˈtaŋk]
• Rhymes: -aŋk

tank m

1. tank, armor

• tankový

• tank in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• tank in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Borrowed from English tank.

• IPA^(key): /tanˀk/, [ˈtˢɑŋˀɡ̊]

tank c (singular definite tanken, plural indefinite tanke)

1. tank (for storage)

   Synonym: beholder

2. (informal) filling station, gas station (US), petrol station (UK), service station

   Synonym: tankstation

• “tank,1” in Den Danske Ordbog

Borrowed from English tank (but later than the previous word).

• IPA^(key): /taːnk/, [ˈtˢæːŋɡ̊]

tank c (singular definite tanken, plural indefinite tanks)

1. tank (military fighting vehicle)

   Synonym: kampvogn

• “tank,2” in Den Danske Ordbog

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /tanˀk/, [ˈtˢɑŋˀɡ̊]

tank

1. imperative of tanke

• (Belgium) IPA^(key): /tɑŋk/
• (Netherlands) IPA^(key): /tɛŋk/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tank
• (Belgium) Rhymes: -ɑŋk
• (Netherlands) Rhymes: -ɛŋk

Borrowed from English tank.

tank m (plural tanks, diminutive tankje n)

1. tank (military armoured fighting vehicle with tracks)

   Synonym: vechtwagen

2. tank (storage reservoir)

• antitankmijn
• gevechtstank
• mannelijke tank
• tankmijn
• tanktoren
• tankval
• vrouwelijke tank

• → Aukan: tenki
• → Caribbean Javanese: tèng

• pantserwagen

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

tank

1. first-person singular present indicative of tanken
2. imperative of tanken

• kant

Borrowed from English tank.

• IPA^(key): /tɑ̃k/, (Quebec) /taŋk/

• Audio

  (file)

tank m (plural tanks)

1. tank (military vehicle)

   Synonyms: char, char d'assaut, char de combat

2. (Canada) tank (container)

   Synonym: réservoir

• “tank”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): /taŋk/
• Rhymes: -aŋk

tank

1. singular imperative of tanken
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of tanken

Borrowed from English tank.[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɒŋk]
• Hyphenation: tank
• Rhymes: -ɒŋk

tank (plural tankok)

1. tank (a closed container for liquids or gases)
2. tank, fuel tank (the fuel reservoir of a vehicle)

   Synonym: üzemanyagtartály

3. (military) tank, armoured fighting vehicle (military fighting vehicle)

   Synonyms: harckocsi, páncélkocsi, páncélos

4. (photography) developing tank (a closed container used for developing film in a daylight environment)

   Synonym: előhívó tank

• tank in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Unadapted borrowing from Dutch tank, from English tank, from Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), originally from Indian vernacular for a large artificial water reservoir, cistern, pool, etc., for example, Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī) or Marathi टाकी (ṭākī), from Sanskrit तडग (taḍaga, “pond”). Doublet of tangki.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛŋk/, /ˈtaŋ/
• Hyphenation: tank
• Homophone: tang (in second pronunciation)

tank (first-person possessive tankku, second-person possessive tankmu, third-person possessive tanknya)

1. tank, an armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a gun in a turret, and moving on caterpillar tracks.

• tang
• teng

• kereta kebal (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore)

• “tank” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Unadapted borrowing from English tank.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛnk/, /ˈtank/[1]
• Rhymes: -ɛnk, -ank
• Hyphenation: tànk

tank m (invariable)

1. tank (military and container)

Borrowed from English tank.

tank m (definite singular tanken, indefinite plural tanker, definite plural tankene)

1. a tank (container, as below)
2. (military, nonstandard since 2005) a tank (armoured fighting vehicle) (form removed with the spelling reform of 2005; superseded by tanks)

   Synonym: stridsvogn

• “tank” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• kant

• IPA^(key): /tank/

Borrowed from English tank.

tank m (definite singular tanken, indefinite plural tankar, definite plural tankane)

1. a tank (closed container for liquids or gases)
2. (military, nonstandard since 2005) a tank (armoured fighting vehicle) ((pre-2005) alternative form of tanks)

   Synonym: stridsvogn

tank

1. imperative of tanka

• “tank” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• kant

tank c

1. tank (container for liquids)

• dunk
• tanke

• kant

From English tank.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑŋk/
• Rhymes: -ɑŋk

tank (definite accusative tankı, plural tanklar)

1. tank