/ tæŋk; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
a large container for holding liquid or gas :
a hot water tank
a fuel tank
a fish tank (= for keeping fish in)
—picture at scuba-diving , motorcycle
—see also septic tank , think tank
2.
(also tank·ful / -fʊl; NAmE /) the contents of a tank or the amount it will hold :
We drove there and back on one tank of petrol.
3.
a military vehicle covered with strong metal and armed with guns. It can travel over very rough ground using wheels that move inside metal belts.
4.
( IndE ) an artificial pool, lake or reservoir
■ verb
1.
( NAmE ) [ v ] ( of a company or a product ) to fail completely :
The company's shares tanked on Wall Street.
2.
( NAmE , sport ) to lose a game, especially deliberately :
[ vn ]
She was accused of tanking the match.
[ v ]
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- tank (sth) up
••
WORD ORIGIN
early 17th cent.: perhaps from Gujarati tānkũ or Marathi (a language spoken in the western Indian state of Maharashtra) tānkẽ underground cistern, from Sanskrit tadāga pond, probably influenced by Portuguese tangue pond, from Latin stagnum . The military vehicle took its name from the use of tank as a secret code word during manufacture in 1915.