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PlainSpell

tank

UK /ˈtæŋk/noun, verb

tank is spelled T-A-N-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tank means “A closed container for liquids or gases” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tank is tanks.

How many letters and syllables are in tank?

Letters4: T-A-N-K
Syllables1
In writing37 times per million words; the 2,618th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is tank?

Tank appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce tank?

  • UK /ˈtæŋk/
  • UK [ˈtʰæŋk]
  • British /ˈtaŋk/

Tank has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-tank.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with tank?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tank from its last stressed vowel (/æŋk/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of tank

  • tanks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • tanking participle, present
  • tanked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does tank mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A closed container for liquids or gases.

    The propane is stored in these tanks.

  2. 2

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

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

  3. 3

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

  4. 4

    The fuel reservoir of a vehicle.

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

  5. 5

    The amount held by a container; a tankful.

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

  6. 6

    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.

  7. 7

    IndiaA reservoir or dam (as it is known in the rest of Australia).

  8. 8

    A structure of tightly overlapping leaves used by some bromeliads to retain water.

  9. 9

    A small Indian dry measure, averaging 240 grains in weight.

  10. 10

    A Bombay weight of 72 grains, for pearls.

verb

  1. 1

    To fail or fall (often used in describing the economy or the stock market); to degenerate or decline rapidly; to plummet.

  2. 2

    to flop; drop in popularity (of a musician/group)

  3. 3

    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.

  4. 4

    To put (fuel, etc.) into a tank.

    Concrete below ground must be fully tanked to prevent water uptake.

  5. 5

    To deliberately lose a sports match with the intent of gaining a perceived future competitive advantage.

  6. 6

    slangTo resist damage; to be attacked without being hurt.

  7. 7

    slangTo contemplate a decision for a long time; to go in the tank.

  8. 8

    colloquialTo stand; to tolerate.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate tank?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of tank: LST.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Tank in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchciterne, réservoir, bonbonne, tank, bouteille (closed container for fluids), cuve (open container for liquids)
GermanBehälter, Tank (closed container for fluids), Becken (open container for liquids), Panzer (armoured fighting vehicle), tanken (to put into a tank)
Portuguesetanque (closed container for fluids), carro de combate (armoured fighting vehicle), tankar (video games: to attract the attacks of an enemy…)
Spanishtanque, yogo, cisterna, calderín (closed container for fluids), tanquear (video games: to attract the attacks of an enemy…), arrostrar (to resist damage; to be attacked without being…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does tank come from?

From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language, likely Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). A false friend can be found in North Germanic: dunk (“canister, keg”), 17th c. tönk, which appears derived from both Low German tunneke, Dutch tonneke (diminutive of "barrel"), and dunka (“to dunk, to dip under water, to moisten”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after tank