tank

• n. 坦克；水槽；池塘
• vt. 把…貯放在櫃內；打敗
• vi. 乘坦克行進
• n. (Tank)人名；(德、土、阿塞、土庫、挪)湯克

來自葡萄牙語 tanque,水箱，容器，借自印度語，如印度總理莫迪所在邦古吉拉特語 tankh, 水箱，畜水池，最終可能來自梵語 tadaga,池塘。現主要詞義軍事坦克來自一戰時英國人發 明該重型裝甲武器後為出其不意給德軍重創，從而以“Tank”作掩護而得名。

tank

tank: [17] Tank ‘water-storage container’ originated in India, where it denoted a ‘pond’. It was borrowed from a local word, such as Gujarati tānkh or Marathi tānken ‘pond, cistern’. These in turn probably went back to Sanskrit tadāga ‘pond, lake’, which was of Dravidian origin. The word was applied as a secret code name to the new armoured vehicle at the end of 1915, supposedly because it was thought to resemble a benzene tank.

tank (n.)

1610s, "pool or lake for irrigation or drinking water," a word originally brought by the Portuguese from India, from a Hindi source, such as Gujarati tankh "cistern, underground reservoir for water," Marathi tanken, or tanka "reservoir of water, tank." Perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit tadaga-m "pond, lake pool," and reinforced in later sense of "large artificial container for liquid" (1680s) by Portuguese tanque "reservoir," from estancar "hold back a current of water," from Vulgar Latin *stanticare (see stanch). But other sources say the Portuguese word is the source of the Indian ones. Meaning "fuel container" is recorded from 1902. Slang meaning "detention cell" is from 1912. Railroad tank-car is from 1874.

In military use, "armored, gun-mounted vehicle moving on continuous articulated tracks," the word originated late 1915. In "Tanks in the Great War" [1920], Brevet Col. J.F.C. Fuller quotes a memorandum of the Committee of Imperial Defence dated Dec. 24, 1915, recommending the proposed "caterpillar machine-gun destroyer" machines be entrusted to an organization "which, for secrecy, shall be called the 'Tank Supply Committee,' ..." In a footnote, Fuller writes, "This is the first appearance of the word 'tank' in the history of the machine." He writes that "cistern" and "reservoir" also were put forth as possible cover names, "all of which were applicable to the steel-like structure of the machines in the early stages of manufacture. Because it was less clumsy and monosyllabic, the name 'tank' was decided on." They were first used in action at Pozieres ridge, on the Western Front, Sept. 15, 1916, and the name was quickly picked up by the soldiers. Tank-trap attested from 1920.

tank (v.)

1900, "to put into a tank," from tank (n.). Meaning "to lose or fail" attested from 1976, originally in tennis jargon, specifically in an interview with Billie Jean King in "Life" magazine, Sept. 22, 1967:

"When our men don't feel like trying," she says, "They 'tank' [give up]. I never tanked a match in my life and I never saw a girl do it. The men do it all the time in minor tournaments when they don't feel like hustling. You have to be horribly competitive to win in big-time tennis."

Sometimes said to be from boxing, in some sense, perhaps from the notion of "taking a dive," but evidence for this is wanting. Related: Tanked; tanking. Adjective tanked "drunk" is from 1893.

1. Colonel Hardy would like to see every tank with a computerized aid.

哈迪上校希望看到每輛坦克都配有電腦化輔助裝置。

來自柯林斯例句

2. A large diesel tank mysteriously leaked its contents into the river.

一個大型柴油罐的柴油莫名其妙地泄漏到河裏去了。

來自柯林斯例句

3. The division will consist of two tank companies and one infantry company.

這個師的組成部隊將包括兩個坦克連和一個步兵連。

來自柯林斯例句

4. The sound of the tank guns reverberated through the little Bavarian town.

坦克炮聲在巴伐利亞小鎮回蕩。

來自柯林斯例句

5. It was my job to wash out the fish tank.

我的工作是清洗魚缸內壁。

來自柯林斯例句