n. & v.
n. 1 a large receptacle or storage chamber usu. for liquid or gas. 2 a heavy armoured fighting vehicle carrying guns and moving on a tracked carriage. 3 a container for the fuel supply in a motor vehicle. 4 the part of a locomotive tender containing water for the boiler. 5 a ind. & Austral. a reservoir. b dial. esp. US a pond.
v. (usu. foll. by up) esp. Brit. 1 tr. fill the tank of (a vehicle etc.) with fuel. 2 intr. & colloq. tr. (in passive) drink heavily; become drunk. tank engine a railway engine carrying fuel and water receptacles in its own frame, not in a tender. tank-farming the practice of growing plants in tanks of water without soil. tank top a sleeveless, close-fitting upper garment with a scoop-neck. tankful n. (pl. -fuls). tankless adj.
[ Gujurati tankh etc., perh. f. Skr. tadaga pond ]