Tank
Pronunciation
- IPA: /tæŋk/
- US IPA: /teɪŋk/
- Rhymes: -æŋk
Origin 1
From Portuguese tanque ("tank, liquid container"), originally from Indian vernacular for a large artificial water reservoir, cistern, pool, etc., for example, Gujarati ટાંકી, or Marathi . Compare the Arabic verb استنقع (istanqáʕa, "to become stagnant, to stagnate").
In the sense of armoured vehicle, to disguise their nature, prototypes were described as tanks for carrying water (1915).
Full definition of tank
Noun
tank
(plural tanks)- A closed container for liquids or gases.
- An open container or pool for storing water or other liquids.
- The fuel reservoir of a vehicle.
- The amount held by a container; a tankful.I burned three tanks of gas on the drive to New York.
- An armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a gun in a turret, and moving on caterpillar tracks.
- (Australian and Indian English) A reservoir or dam.
- (Southwestern US, chiefly Texas) A large metal container, usually placed near a wind-driven water pump, in an animal pen or field.
- (Southwestern US, chiefly Texas) By extension a small pond for the same purpose.
- (slang) A very muscular and physically imposing person. Somebody who is built like a tank.
- (gaming, video games, online games) In online and offline role-playing games, a character designed primarily around damage absorption and holding the attention of the enemy with offensive power as a close secondary consideration.
Synonyms
- (military fighting vehicle) battle tank, combat tank, armour mass noun, tango Canadian military slang
Derived terms
Hypernyms
- (military fighting vehicle) armoured fighting vehicle, armored fighting vehicle, AFV, armoured combat vehicle, armored combat vehicle
Hyponyms
- (military fighting vehicle) infantry tank historical, cavalry tank historical, fast tank historical, cruiser tank historical, tankette historical, light tank, medium tank, heavy tank, main battle tank, MBT, flame tank, flamethrower tank
Coordinate terms
- (military fighting vehicle) armoured car, armoured train, armoured personnel carrier, armored personnel carrier, APC, infantry fighting vehicle, IFV, self-propelled gun, tank destroyer, assault gun
Verb
- To fail or fall (often used in describing the economy or the stock market); to degenerate or decline rapidly; to plummet.
- (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.
- To put fuel into a tank
- To deliberately lose a sports match with the intent of gaining a perceived future competitive advantage.
- Beforehand, Swedish ice hockey team coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson had ruminated about tanking against Slovakia to avoid powerful Canada or the Czechs in the quarters quarterfinals of the 2006 Winter Olympic tournament, telling Swedish television, "One is cholera, the other the plague."