n.
- a large receptacle or storage chamber, especially for liquid or gas.
▸the container holding the fuel supply in a motor vehicle.
▸Indian & Austral./NZ a reservoir.
- a receptacle with transparent sides in which to keep fish; an aquarium.
- a heavy armoured fighting vehicle carrying guns and moving on a continuous articulated metal track.
- N. Amer. informal a cell in a police station or jail.
v.
-
(be/get tanked up)
informal drink heavily or become drunk.
-
(usu. tank up)
fill the tank of a vehicle with fuel.
- N. Amer. informal fail completely or disastrously.
▸(in sport) deliberately lose or fail to finish (a match).
Derivative
- tankful n.
(pl. tankfuls)
. - tankless adj.
Etymology
C17: perh. from Gujarati tānkũ or Marathi tānkẽ ‘underground cistern’, prob. influenced by Port. tangue ‘pond’.