tank top
28
1.3
- noun
- /tæŋk tɑp/
- US
:
camiseta de tirantes
- She wore a bright blue tank top to the beach on a hot summer day.
- tank top and shorts
Black shorts, black tank top, white socks, white shoes.
- Black shorts, black tank top, white socks, white shoes.
- I am wearing a tank top and a bra and underpants.
- He was wearing a tank top that said Venice Lifeguard.
- I have had this tank top for so long and I refuse.
- It's from Princess Polly, a black tank top, black pants.
- So here I am, you know, big Afro wearing a tank top and some and some jeans.
- Or a very lightweight jazzy tank top over a more covering other top.
- And to wear with this particular tank top, I picked out these sweet Jean shorts.
Examples
-
Young women swaggered by in tank tops and tight jeans.
Fiction book (1997) -
So I have this little black tank top that really fits me well.
-
It's comfortable and I also have this tank top that I always wear as well.
-
Well, your tank top is too tight.
-
Why are you wearing a tank top?
-
The tank top and the hot pants are nice, too.
-
I just have on this plain tank top and some jeans.
-
I am wearing a tank top by Rag and Bone.
-
Shatanga looked pretty in a clean pair of white shorts and a blue tank top.
Fiction book (2000) -
He's wearing a blue tank top that makes his ropey arms look too long for his body.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A piece of clothing for the upper body with sleeves and a collar
400
1.0
A shirt with no collar and short sleeves usually made of cotton and worn casually
321
1.0
A piece of clothing that covers the upper body
21
1.0
A short-sleeved cotton shirt with no collar worn for casual use
20
4.9
A woman's top held up by straps behind the neck that leaves the back and shoulders bare
13
1.0
A thin shirt without a collar worn under a shirt
10
5.4
A woman's short sleeveless top with thin straps worn under clothes or alone
9
4.2
A thin sleeveless top with narrow straps that women wear under clothes
7
1.0
A casual shirt with short sleeves that fits close to the body
A lightweight sleeveless top worn under clothes or alone
A thin top you wear under a shirt to keep you warm
How Warm
Surface Forms
Morphology
tank + top
Although 'top' indicates an upper garment, the element 'tank' (commonly meaning a container or armoured vehicle and not defined here) gives no predictable cue to 'sleeveless, tight-fitting shirt'. The compound is lexicalized for this specific clothing sense and is not transparently built from the literal meanings of its parts, so a B1 learner who only knows the separate words would likely not infer the correct meaning.
Etymology
Tank top may come from old 'tank suits' worn for swimming, because people called a swimming pool a 'tank' and the sleeveless upper part was a top, so the name stuck. So, Tank top now means a sleeveless shirt.