Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
tank ship

tank ship

4.7
A large ship that carries liquids like oil in large amounts
  • noun
  • /tæŋk ʃɪp/
  • Specialized
translation icon : buque cisterna
  • When the tank ship arrived at port, workers began loading it with liquid chemicals for distribution.

We're doing so much of the old fashioned stuff and I wonder when are we going to start turning this huge tank ship to another direction.

Examples

  • Specialized equipment is needed to efficiently unload a tank ship filled with liquefied gas.

  • The tank ship sailed across the ocean, carrying thousands of gallons of crude oil to the refinery.

  • But that envisioned a tank ship or a, or a facility.

  • We're doing so much of the old fashioned stuff and I wonder when are we going to start turning this huge tank ship to another direction.

    Harvard University

Synonyms

ship
vstank ship
∞ 1.0

A large boat that carries people or goods across the sea

is specialised for transporting liquid cargo rather than general goods or people
vessel
vstank ship
698 3.3

A large boat or ship used for travel on water

is specific to transporting liquid cargo rather than any watercraft use
tanker
vstank ship
57 3.5

A very large ship that carries oil in bulk

is broader and also covers other liquid cargoes beyond crude oil
oil tanker
vstank ship
  • Specialized
13 2.5

A very large ship that carries oil across oceans

is narrower in focus, while the key also allows other liquid types
supertanker
vstank ship
4 5.1

A very large ship that carries huge amounts of oil

is the general large liquid carrier term, not limited to the very biggest ones
oiler
vstank ship
  • Specialized
1 7.1

A large ship that carries crude oil

is the more general term that can include non-oil liquid cargoes

Surface Forms

tank ship singular
tank ships plural

Morphology

tank + ship

The meaning 'a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk' is directly and transparently derivable from 'tank' (a container for liquids) + 'ship' (a vessel), following a regular noun–noun compounding pattern. This compositional logic is common in English (compare 'tanker') and cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand it.

Etymology

Tank ship comes from the simple idea of a tank (a big metal container) inside a ship. These vessels hold oil or other liquids in large tanks, so the name came to mean 'a ship that carries liquids in bulk'.