Library / English Dictionary

TANK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cell for violent prisoners

Synonyms:

cooler; tank

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

storage tank; tank

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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:

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

Synonyms:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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"):

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

cannon (heavy gun fired from a tank)

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 4

Meaning:

A freight car that transports liquids or gases in bulk

Synonyms:

tank; tank car

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

freight car (a railway car that carries freight)

Sense 5

Meaning:

As much as a tank will hold

Synonyms:

tank; tankful

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

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)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Treat in a tank

Example:

tank animal refuse

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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)

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:

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Investigators determined that a helium tank had burst inside a liquid oxygen tank, triggering the explosion.

(SpaceX Completes Successful Rocket Launch, VOA News)

These are normally found in and around the home in the form of open bottles, old tyres, uncovered water tanks and flowerpots.

(Thyme oil and corn starch prove deadly for mosquito larvae, SciDev.Net)

Then he plodded down the road himself, to the water tank, where half a dozen empties lay on a side-track waiting for the up freight.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But even state-of-the-art artificial leaves, which hold promise in reducing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, only work in the laboratory because they use pure, pressurized carbon dioxide from tanks.

(Artificial Leaves Convert CO2 to Fuel 10 Times More Efficient Than Nature, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

She listened to college stories with deep interest, caressed pointers and poodles without a murmur, agreed heartily that Tom Brown was a brick, regardless of the improper form of praise, and when one lad proposed a visit to his turtle tank, she went with an alacrity which caused Mamma to smile upon her, as that motherly lady settled the cap which was left in a ruinous condition by filial hugs, bearlike but affectionate, and dearer to her than the most faultless coiffure from the hands of an inspired Frenchwoman.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The segment of the sleeping creature shows Heidi sleeping upside-down in a tank and in moments, her skin begins to change color —leaving marine biologist David Scheel from Alaska Pacific University to suggest that marine animal is dreaming.

(Octopuses can dream, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

He plunged into the swimming tank or went hunting with the Judge’s sons; he escorted Mollie and Alice, the Judge’s daughters, on long twilight or early morning rambles; on wintry nights he lay at the Judge’s feet before the roaring library fire; he carried the Judge’s grandsons on his back, or rolled them in the grass, and guarded their footsteps through wild adventures down to the fountain in the stable yard, and even beyond, where the paddocks were, and the berry patches.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Sometimes he thought of Judge Miller’s big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley, and of the cement swimming-tank, and Ysabel, the Mexican hairless, and Toots, the Japanese pug; but oftener he remembered the man in the red sweater, the death of Curly, the great fight with Spitz, and the good things he had eaten or would like to eat.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

With an effort Wilson left the shade and support of the doorway and, breathing hard, unscrewed the cap of the tank. In the sunlight his face was green.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

I think he'd tanked up a good deal at luncheon and his determination to have my company bordered on violence. The supercilious assumption was that on Sunday afternoon I had nothing better to do.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)