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.
Phrases and idioms:
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.
Derivatives:
tankful n. (pl. -fuls). tankless adj.
Etymology: Gujurati tankh etc., perh. f. Skr. tadaga pond