drunk tank

noun

A cell where people who have been arrested for public drunkenness are detained until they are sober.

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Meanings

noundrunk tank (plural drunk tanks)

plural drunk tanks

  1. slangA cell where people who have been arrested for public drunkenness are detained until they are sober.

    It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank / An old man said to me, “Won't see another one”

    1987, Shane MacGowan, Jem Finer, “Fairytale of New York”, in If I Should Fall from Grace with God, performed by The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl
    1 more example

    [I]f you're honest enough you might end up in the drunk-tank 15 or 20 times and lose a few jobs and a wife or 2 or maybe slug somebody in the streets and sleep on a park bench now and then […].

    1962, Charles Bukowski, “letter”, in On Writing, Canongate, published 2016, page 57

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 酒牢
  • 酒牢 (jiǔláo)cell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Czech záchytka, alkoholka
  • záchytkacell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
  • alkoholkacell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Danish detention
  • detentioncell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Dutch dronkemanscel
  • dronkemanscelcell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Estonian kainestusmaja, kainer
  • kainestusmajacell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
  • kainercell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Finnish putka, juoppoputka
  • putkacell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
  • juoppoputkacell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
French cellule de dégrisement, salle de dégrisement
  • cellule de dégrisementcell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
  • salle de dégrisementcell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
German Ausnüchterungszelle
  • Ausnüchterungszellecell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Latvian atskurbtuve
  • atskurbtuvecell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Polish izba wytrzeźwień, wytrzeźwiałka
  • izba wytrzeźwieńcell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
  • wytrzeźwiałkacell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Russian вытрезви́тель
  • вытрезви́тель (vytrezvítelʹ)cell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Swedish fyllecell, tillnyktringscell
  • fyllecellcell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
  • tillnyktringscellcell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Ukrainian витвере́зник
  • витвере́зник (vytveréznyk)cell where drunken people are detained until they are sober
Cite this entry
APA

drunk tank. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drunk%20tank

MLA

“drunk tank.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drunk%20tank. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “drunk tank,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drunk%20tank.

Source: drunk tank on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.