From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language, likely Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). A false friend can be found in North Germanic: dunk (“canister, keg”), 17th c. tönk, which appears derived from both Low German tunneke, Dutch tonneke (diminutive of "barrel"), and dunka (“to dunk, to dip under water, to moisten”). * 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.
The tank contains unfiltered water. You really shouldn't drink from that.
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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.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 29:
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An open container or pool for storing water or other liquids.
The contractors installed a new tank with gorgeous fish and corals.
The ore slurries are directed into an open tank outside the excavation site.
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A pond, pool, or small lake (either natural or artificial).
The tanks are full and the grass is high.1896, Henry Lawson, Out Back:
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The fuel reservoir of a vehicle.
We have brought the van to a garage after we found a leak in the tank.
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The amount held by a container; a tankful.
I burned three tanks of gas on the drive to New York.
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An armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a gun designed for direct fire, and moving on caterpillar tracks.
The journalist mistook the self-propelled artillery vehicle for a tank.
Few remember the female tanks that were produced between the World Wars.
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Tank beats everything! Oh, man! I could do this all day!2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: The Ark:
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).
Roleplaying games; board games; roleplaying games; board games
The paladin can make for a decent tank, but I recommend that you get a class with better taunting skills.
By the nature of imprisonment, one is perceived by free society as something subhuman. By the nature of being on a protective custody tank, a "gay tank", everyone there is seen as members of the lowest caste in the system.1985 April 13, Philip Brasfield, “Echoes Inside of What's Outside”, in Gay Community News, page 4:
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Card games, PokerSlang A metaphorical place where a player goes to contemplate a decision; see in the tank.
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.1941 September, “The Why and the Wherefore: The Longest Tank Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, pages 431–432:
Representing the older types now are some Stroudley 0-6-0 tanks, while a Drummond "C14" 0-4-0 tank might still be pottering about on the Town Quays as of yore.1952 February, R. A. H. Weight, “A Railway Recorder in Wessex”, in Railway Magazine, page 133:
T-BACK COTTON TANK1990 November 18, “Earl’s Reebok Sale for the Holidays”, in Granite City Press-Record Journal, volume 6, number 46, Granite City, Ill., →OCLC, page 8A:
It pleased her more than she could say to know she walked on her own land, over dewed grass, wearing a tank and cotton pajama pants.2008, Nora Roberts, Tribute, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →ISBN, page 206:
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I was wearing a tank and some cotton pants.2022, Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, Body Becoming: A Path to Our Liberation, Minneapolis, Minn.: Broadleaf Books, 1517 Media, →ISBN:
On TikTok, #wifepleaser boasts more than 11.4 million views, while #wifepleasertank has racked up 13.9 million. […] Thanks to TikTok, there has been a mass adoption of the term “wife pleaser” in an attempt to rebrand the tank.2023 August 9, Brooke Kato, “Gen Z loves the ‘wife beater’ tee — but they’re canceling the name”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2023:
From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language, likely Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). A false friend can be found in North Germanic: dunk (“canister, keg”), 17th c. tönk, which appears derived from both Low German tunneke, Dutch tonneke (diminutive of "barrel"), and dunka (“to dunk, to dip under water, to moisten”). * 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.
tank
verb
Etymology
From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language, likely Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). A false friend can be found in North Germanic: dunk (“canister, keg”), 17th c. tönk, which appears derived from both Low German tunneke, Dutch tonneke (diminutive of "barrel"), and dunka (“to dunk, to dip under water, to moisten”). * 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.
To fail or fall (often used in describing the economy or the stock market); to degenerate or decline rapidly; to plummet.
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.2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 112:
"[...] If the economy has tanked... then we don't want to over-promise and under-deliver."2022 October 5, “Network News: Private sector's role in a publicly-owned railway”, in RAIL, number 967, page 16:
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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
To put (fuel, etc.) into a tank.
Concrete below ground must be fully tanked to prevent water uptake.
Sometimes oils are tanked for months or years at a time (e.g., linseed oil).1913, Geoffrey Martin, Industrial and manufacturing chemistry:
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To deliberately lose a sports match with the intent of gaining a perceived future competitive advantage.
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."2006 March 6, Michael Farber, “Swede Success”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Sports Illustrated, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2012:
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LifestyleSlang To resist damage; to be attacked without being hurt.
Unless Bane can tank Helicarrier-busting explosions I'm not sure how he stands a chance.2015 March 1, DudeFuckMath, “Bane [DC] vs Iron Fist [Marvel]”, in Reddit (r/whowouldwin), retrieved 19 Jun 2017:
A weakened Superman tanked an explosion 50 times larger than the Kepler's Supernova and the electromagnetic shock wave hit him.2016 June 2, MercinWithAMouth, “Superman Stongest Feat Ever”, in Comic Vine Forums, retrieved 19 Jun 2017:
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Barda could BFR and I doubt She hulk is tanking a blow from her rod, so she takes.2016 July 22, Si-Phon Dom, “Big Barda Vs She Hulk”, in Comics Amino, retrieved 19 Jun 2017:
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Slang To contemplate a decision for a long time; to go in the tank.