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tank - 9 dictionary results
tank
[tangk] 
–noun
| 1. | a large receptacle, container, or structure for holding a liquid or gas: tanks for storing oil. |
| 2. | a natural or artificial pool, pond, or lake. |
| 3. | Military. an armored, self-propelled combat vehicle, armed with cannon and machine guns and moving on a caterpillar tread. |
| 4. | Slang. a prison cell or enclosure for more than one occupant, as for prisoners awaiting a hearing. |
| 5. | tank top. |
–verb (used with object)
| 6. | to put or store in a tank. |
–verb (used without object)
—Verb phrase| 7. | Slang. to do poorly or decline rapidly; fail: The movie tanked at the box office. |
| 8. | tank up,
|
| 9. | go in the tank, Boxing Slang. to go through the motions of a match but deliberately lose because of an illicit prearrangement or fix; throw a fight. |
Origin:
1610–20; perh. jointly < Gujarati tānkh reservoir, lake, and Pg tanque, contr. of estanque pond, lit., something dammed up, deriv. of estancar (< VL *stanticāre) to dam up, weaken; adopted as a cover name for the military vehicle during the early stages of its manufacture in England (December, 1915)
1610–20; perh. jointly < Gujarati tānkh reservoir, lake, and Pg tanque, contr. of estanque pond, lit., something dammed up, deriv. of estancar (< VL *stanticāre) to dam up, weaken; adopted as a cover name for the military vehicle during the early stages of its manufacture in England (December, 1915)
Related forms:
tankless, adjective
tanklike, adjective
tank top
–noun
| a close-fitting, low-cut top having shoulder straps and often made of lightweight, knitted fabric. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To tank
| tank (tāngk) n.
v. tr. To place, store, or process in a tank. v. intr. Slang To suffer a sudden decline or failure: "Steady investors . . . kept their heads when the stock market tanked in October 1987" (Burton G. Malkiel). Phrasal Verb(s): tank up
[Partly from Gujarati tānkh, cistern (from Sanskrit taḍāgaḥ, pond, perhaps of Dravidian origin) and partly from Portuguese tanque, reservoir (variant of estanque, from estancar, to dam up, from Vulgar Latin *stanticāre; see stanch1).] tank'ful' (-fŏŏl') n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tank
Tank\, n. A pond, pool, or small lake, natural or artificial. We stood in the afterglow on the bank of the tank and saw the ducks come homa. --F. Remington. The tanks are full and the grass is high. --Lawson.Tank
Tank\, n. A small Indian dry measure, averaging 240 grains in weight; also, a Bombay weight of 72 grains, for pearls. --Simmonds.Tank
Tank\, n. [Pg. tanque, L. stangum a pool; or perhaps of East Indian origin. Cf. Stank, n.] A large basin or cistern; an artificial receptacle for liquids. Tank engine, a locomotive which carries the water and fuel it requires, thus dispensing with a tender. Tank iron, plate iron thinner than boiler plate, and thicker than sheet iron or stovepipe iron. Tank worm (Zo["o]l.), a small nematoid worm found in the water tanks of India, supposed by some to be the young of the Guinea worm.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : tank
Spanish:
tanque, depósito,
German:
der Tank,
Japanese:
タンク
tank (n.)
c.1616, "pool or lake for irrigation or drinking water," a word originally brought by the Portuguese from India, ult. from Gujarati tankh "cistern, underground reservoir for water," Marathi tanken, or tanka "reservoir of water, tank." Perhaps from Skt. tadaga-m "pond, lake pool," and reinforced in later sense of "large artificial container for liquid" (1690) by Port. tanque "reservoir," from estancar "hold back a current of water," from V.L. *stanticare (see stanch). But others say the Port. word is the source of the Indian ones. Meaning "fuel container" is recorded from 1902. Military use originated 1915, partly as a code word, partly because they looked like benzene tanks. They were first used in action at Pozieres ridge, on the Western Front, Sept. 15, 1916. Slang meaning "detention cell" is from 1912. Tanker "ship for carrying oil or other liquid cargo," is first attested 1900. Tank top is 1968, from tank suit "one-piece bathing costume" (1920s), so called because it was worn in a swimming tank, or pool.
tank (v.)
"to lose or fail," 1976, originaly in tennis jargon, but said there to be from boxing, from tank (n.) in some sense. Tanked "drunk" is from 1893.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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tank
In addition to the idiom beginning with tank, also see think tank.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
