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tank up

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tank up

 (on something) and tank up with something

1. Lit. to fill one's fuel tank with something. I need to tank up on premium gas to stop this engine knock. It's time to stop and tank up. We need to tank up with gas.

2. Sl. to drink some kind of alcoholic beverage. toby spent the evening tanking up on bourbon. Jerry tanked up with gin and went to sleep.

See also: tank, up

tank up (something)

also tank something up

to fill the fuel container of a vehicle with gas or other fuel There won't be any gas stations for miles and miles, so we'd better tank up now. It's always a good idea to tank up a rented car before you return it.

See also: tank, up

tank up

1. Fill a gas tank with fuel, as in As soon as we tank up the car we can leave. [First half of 1900s]

2. Drink to the point of intoxication. F. Scott Fitzgerald used this expression in The Great Gatsby (1926): "I think he'd tanked up a good deal at luncheon." This expression often is put in the passive, meaning "be or become intoxicated," as in My roommate really got tanked up last night. [Slang; c. 1900]

See also: tank, up

tank up

v.

1. To fill the tank of a motor vehicle with gasoline: Gas prices are so high, I can barely afford to tank up. Don't tank up with low-quality gasoline.

2. To eat, drink, or accumulate a supply of food or drink: Midway through the hike, we stopped by a stream to tank up on water. The travelers pulled into a roadside diner and tanked up.

3. Slang To intoxicate someone: Someone poured a bottle of vodka in the punch and tanked up the unsuspecting partygoers. The kids got tanked up on soda pop and ran around in the yard. Many of the revelers were too tanked up to drive home.

4. Slang To drink to the point of intoxication: The losing team is tanking up at the bar.

5. Slang To be consumed to the point of intoxicating someone: That last glass of whiskey really tanked me up.

See also: tank, up

tank up

verb

See tank

See also: tank, up