tankers

Noun

tanker (plural tankers)

1. A tankship, a vessel used to transport large quantities of fluid.
   • The channel at Chan-chiang is being dredged to a depth of 50 feet enabling tankers of 70,000 tons to call.1976 March, JeNelle Matheson, Construction Equipment A Market Assessment for the People's Republic of China, U.S. Department of Commerce, →OCLC, page 8
2. (UK, US) A motor truck (lorry) with a tank to hold bulk liquid (with or without internal baffles): a fuel tanker (lorry), petrol tanker, road tanker.
   • Nor is the government facing a strike by tanker drivers, as was the case in early 1979 during the winter of discontent.2021 September 23, Larry Elliott, “Petrol disruption will fuel fears of new winter of discontent”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms:

   tanker truck, tank truck

3. (usually) An aircraft carrying a large supply of jet fuel or avgas for aerial refueling of other aircraft, plus equipment allowing the in-air transfer of fuel.
   • Without the KC-46 tankers orbiting in friendly airspace, our fighters would've run out of fuel long before reaching the combat zone.

   Synonyms:

   air tanker, tanker aircraft

4. An aircraft built or modified to carry water and/or fire retardant for dropping on wildfires.
   • While our ground teams cut firebreaks in the brush, the tankers kept the fire in the mountains at bay with frequent drops of water and retardant.
5. A tank car (tank wagon).
6. Member of a tank crew, or of an armoured unit.
   • On February 19, 1943, American tankers felt the full wrath of the German Army in North Africa when its tank-led spearhead punched a 2-mile-wide hole through American lines at Faid Pass in Tunisia, […]2014, Michael Green, American Tanks & AFVs of World War II, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 70

   Synonyms:

   tankist, zipperhead

See all 10 meanings of tanker