tank

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a large, usually metallic vessel for holding gases or liquids

   Our tank holds 1000 gallons.

2. 2
   verb

   treat in a tank

   tank animal refuse

3. 3
   noun

   A closed container for liquids or gases.

   The propane is stored in these tanks.

4. 4
   noun

   An open container or pool for storing water or other liquids.

   The contractors installed a new tank with gorgeous fish and corals.

5. 5
   noun

   A pond, pool, or small lake (either natural or artificial).

   The tanks are full and the grass is high.

6. 6
   noun

   The fuel reservoir of a vehicle.

   We have brought the van to a garage after we found a leak in the tank.

7. 7
   noun

   The amount held by a container; a tankful.

   I burned three tanks of gas on the drive to New York.

8. 8
   noun

   An armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a gun designed for direct fire, and moving on caterpillar tracks.

   The journalist mistook the self-propelled artillery vehicle for a tank.

Etymology

From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language, likely Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). Compare the Arabic verb اِسْتَنْقَعَ (istanqaʕa, “to become stagnant, to stagnate”). In the sense of armoured vehicle, first attested in 1915, prototypes were described as tanks for carrying water to disguise their nature as well as due to physical resemblance.