tank
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /tæŋk/
ipa: [ˈtʰeɪŋk]
rhymes: -æŋk
Forms: form: tanks
form: tanking
form: tanked
form: tanked
Etymology: From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language such as 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.
Senses: examples: text: He told me about all the odd jobs he'd taken after I was born, when Michigan's economy was tanking. For one, he crisscrossed the Midwest buying old carpets from dentists' offices.
ref: 2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 112:
text: "[...] If the economy has tanked... then we don't want to over-promise and under-deliver."
ref: 2022 October 5, “Network News: Private sector's role in a publicly-owned railway”, in RAIL, number 967, page 16:
glosses: To fail or fall (often used in describing the economy or the stock market); to degenerate or decline rapidly; to plummet.
topics: video-games
glosses: To attract the attacks of an enemy target in cooperative team-based combat, so that one's teammates can defeat the enemy in question more efficiently.
examples: text: Concrete below ground must be fully tanked to prevent water uptake.
text: Sometimes oils are tanked for months or years at a time (e.g., linseed oil).
ref: 1913, Geoffrey Martin, Industrial and manufacturing chemistry:
glosses: To put (fuel, etc.) into a tank.
examples: text: Beforehand, Swedish [national ice hockey team] coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson had ruminated about tanking against Slovakia to avoid powerful Canada or the Czechs in the quarters [i.e., quarterfinals of the 2006 Winter Olympic tournament], telling Swedish television, "One is cholera, the other the plague."
ref: 2006 March 6, Michael Farber, “Swede Success”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Sports Illustrated, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2012:
glosses: To deliberately lose a sports match with the intent of gaining a perceived future competitive advantage.
examples: text: Unless Bane can tank Helicarrier-busting explosions I'm not sure how he stands a chance.
ref: 2015 March 1, DudeFuckMath, “Bane [DC] vs Iron Fist [Marvel]”, in Reddit (r/whowouldwin), retrieved 19 Jun 2017:
text: A weakened Superman tanked an explosion 50 times larger than the Kepler's Supernova and the electromagnetic shock wave hit him.
ref: 2016 June 2, MercinWithAMouth, “Superman Stongest Feat Ever”, in Comic Vine Forums, retrieved 19 Jun 2017:
text: Barda could BFR and I doubt She hulk is tanking a blow from her rod, so she takes.
ref: 2016 July 22, Si-Phon Dom, “Big Barda Vs She Hulk”, in Comics Amino, retrieved 19 Jun 2017:
topics: lifestyle
glosses: To resist damage; to be attacked without being hurt.
glosses: To contemplate a decision for a long time; to go in the tank.
glosses: To stand; to tolerate.
glosses: To willingly take on an undesirable task or burden.
Derived terms: word: tank up
word: face tank
word: buay tank