TANK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tank mean? 

• TANK (noun)
  The noun TANK has 5 senses:

1. an enclosed armored military vehicle; has a cannon and moves on caterpillar treads

2. a large (usually metallic) vessel for holding gases or liquids

3. as much as a tank will hold

4. a freight car that transports liquids or gases in bulk

5. a cell for violent prisoners

  Familiarity information: TANK used as a noun is common.

• TANK (verb)
  The verb TANK has 3 senses:

1. store in a tank by causing (something) to flow into it

2. consume excessive amounts of alcohol

3. treat in a tank

  Familiarity information: TANK used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TANK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An enclosed armored military vehicle; has a cannon and moves on caterpillar treads

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

armored combat vehicle; armoured combat vehicle; army tank; tank

Hypernyms ("tank" is a kind of...):

armored vehicle; armoured vehicle (a vehicle that is protected by armor plate)

tracked vehicle (a self-propelled vehicle that moves on tracks)

military vehicle (vehicle used by the armed forces)

Meronyms (parts of "tank"):

cannon (heavy gun fired from a tank)

gun enclosure; gun turret; turret (a self-contained weapons platform housing guns and capable of rotation)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tank"):

panzer (an armored vehicle or tank)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A large (usually metallic) vessel for holding gases or liquids

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

storage tank; tank

Hypernyms ("tank" is a kind of...):

vessel (an object used as a container (especially for liquids))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tank"):

aquarium; fish tank; marine museum (a tank or pool or bowl filled with water for keeping live fish and underwater animals)

cistern; water tank (a tank that holds the water used to flush a toilet)

gas holder; gasometer (a large gas-tight spherical or cylindrical tank for holding gas to be used as fuel)

gas tank; gasoline tank; petrol tank (a tank for holding gasoline to supply a vehicle)

reservoir (tank used for collecting and storing a liquid (as water or oil))

septic tank (large tank where solid matter or sewage is disintegrated by bacteria)

hot-water heater; hot-water tank; water heater (a heater and storage tank to supply heated water)

Derivation:

tank (treat in a tank)

tank (store in a tank by causing (something) to flow into it)

Sense 3

Meaning:

As much as a tank will hold

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

tank; tankful

Hypernyms ("tank" is a kind of...):

containerful (the quantity that a container will hold)

Derivation:

tank (store in a tank by causing (something) to flow into it)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A freight car that transports liquids or gases in bulk

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

tank; tank car

Hypernyms ("tank" is a kind of...):

freight car (a railway car that carries freight)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A cell for violent prisoners

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cooler; tank

Hypernyms ("tank" is a kind of...):

cell; jail cell; prison cell (a room where a prisoner is kept)

• TANK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tank    ... he / she / it tanks   
Past simple: tanked   
Past participle: tanked   
-ing form: tanking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Store in a tank by causing (something) to flow into it

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "tank" is one way to...):

store (find a place for and put away for storage)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tank (a large (usually metallic) vessel for holding gases or liquids)

tank (as much as a tank will hold)

tankage (the act of storing in tanks)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Consume excessive amounts of alcohol

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "tank" is one way to...):

booze; drink; fuddle; hit the bottle (consume alcohol)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Treat in a tank

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

tank animal refuse

Hypernyms (to "tank" is one way to...):

process; treat (subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tank (a large (usually metallic) vessel for holding gases or liquids)

 Context examples 

In their study, the researchers compared the responses of barramundi larvae in marine tanks with different CO2 levels: those predicted at the turn of the century, against current day CO2 levels.

(Fish larvae lose their way to safety in acidified oceans, SciDev.Net)

Water-filled flumes are common tools for studying the movement of sand dunes in a lab setting, but the dunes can only be observed until they reach the end of the tank.

(Sand dunes can ‘communicate’ with each other, University of Cambridge)

Ad hoc "think tanks" appointed to address key scientific issues.

(Director's Working Group, NCI Thesaurus)

If you have a chronic problem, you may have a portable oxygen tank or a machine in your home.

(Oxygen Therapy, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

In a footage, an Octopus named Heidi changes skin-color, from light to dark, while sleeping upside-down in a tank making scientists believe that they can dream.

(Octopuses can dream, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In addition to vaults to store seed at minus 20° Celsius, it includes laboratories, in vitro storage rooms, liquid nitrogen tanks, and animal and microorganism DNA samples.

(LatAm's largest gene bank unveiled in Brasília, Agência BRASIL)

We tend to think of these hydrocarbons as a gas on Earth, unless they're pressurized in a tank.

(Cassini Reveals Surprises with Titan's Lakes, NASA)

Treatment in which a storage tank of oxygen or a machine called a compressor is used at home to give oxygen to people for the treatment of chronic lung disease.

(Home Oxygen Therapy, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Treatment in which a storage tank of oxygen or a machine called a compressor is used to give oxygen to people with breathing problems.

(Oxygen Therapy, NCI Dictionary)

Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well, and the big cement tank where Judge Miller’s boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)