Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🚰 To remove everything 🏁 To use all energy
to empty the tank

to empty the tank

5.1
Use all your energy in a final effort until you have none left
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : darlo todo
  • She knew it would be tough, but she was determined to empty the tank during her last presentation and impress the audience.

And so then the goal becomes to empty the tank, not what where I drive, but just to drive the car as hard as I possibly can.

Examples

  • In the final minutes of the game, the players decided to empty the tank and give everything they had left to win.

  • As the deadline approached, he had to empty the tank to finish the project on time, putting in all his effort.

  • And so then the goal becomes to empty the tank, not what where I drive, but just to drive the car as hard as I possibly can.

    Chris Williamson

Synonyms

to run out
vsto empty the tank
937 1.9

Use all of something so none is left

focuses instead on intentionally giving everything in a final effort
to use up
vsto empty the tank
69 2.7

To finish all of something so nothing is left

emphasizes making a final, maximum personal effort rather than ordinary consumption
to exhaust
vsto empty the tank
68 3.7

To use up all of a supply or resource

adds the sense of a deliberate final human push rather than mere depletion
to deplete
vsto empty the tank
13 6.3

To use up almost all of something so little is left

highlights active, final effort to empty personal energy rather than passive reduction
to shoot your bolt
vsto empty the tank
  • Informal
1 8.6

To use up all your energy or chances so none remain

focuses on the same last, full-effort idea rather than gradual use
to shoot one's bolt
vsto empty the tank
  • Informal
8.8

To use up all your energy or chances

is about making a last, maximum effort until nothing remains
to shoot one's load
vsto empty the tank
  • Offensive
9.9

Use all your energy at once and have none left in a rude way

means the same final expenditure but without vulgar tone

Antonyms

to save energy
9 2.5

Use less energy, for example by turning off lights when you leave

How Exhausted

collapse
350 4.1
to empty the tank
  • Informal
5.1
work
∞ 1.0
to rest
816 1.0

Surface Forms

empty the tank infinitive

Morphology

empty + the + tank

The literal meanings of 'empty' (remove all contents) and 'tank' (a container) give a clear clue that something is being used up, so a B1 learner could plausibly infer a metaphorical sense of using all resources in context. However, the extension of a physical container to mean a person's energy or stamina is figurative and not guaranteed to be predictable without prior exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Empty the tank is also used as a picture for using all your energy. Think of a car's fuel tank: when you use the last drop and the car stops, you have no power left, so to 'empty the tank' means to use every bit of 'energy' or strength.