Meanings
- not comparableWearing a tank top.
‘Thai food is crucial,’ enthused an anorexic tank-topped woman over her uneaten chicken satays, ‘but actually I don’t eat salt.’
1996, Rory MacLean, “[Sligh’ an Uisge – Waterways] Trees in the Bog”, in The Oatmeal Ark: Across Canada by Water, Toronto, Ont.: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, →ISBN, page 2022 more examples
And then there’s the entertainment value to be found at the fleas. People watching is as much fun as scanning the booths and racks for bargains. Sharp-dressed gals and tank-topped guys.
1996, Suzy Adams Dixon, Paula L. Stahel, “Shopping”, in The Insiders’ Guide to Tampa Bay, 2nd edition, Bradenton, Fla.: Bradenton Herald; Manteo, N.C.: The Insiders’ Guides Inc., →ISBN, page 89It was a long time before the scene changed, and for mile after mile we would get the hard stares from nappy-haired kids on bikes, tank-topped guys leaning on cars, bandannas with beer bottles.
2005, Jodi Angel, “Push”, in The History of Vegas: Stories, San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books, →ISBN, pages 82–83 - not comparableIncorporating a tank top.
There were tank-topped dresses in contrasting colors, and military suits with snap and brass trim.
1968 January 13, “Low-priced High-styled Fashions Shown”, in The Intelligencer, Belleville, Ont., page 6, column 64 more examples
[…] a beige version of z and l [zefran and linen]—tank-topped dress, back-buttoned postage stamp jacket short enough to show a strip of belt.
1959, Vogue, volume 133, page 75Tank-topped black crepe pajamas come with a reversible quilted coolie jacket — black on one side, striped on the other.
1975 March 6, “In Tempo Of The Times, Couture Shows Switch-N-Swap Multiples”, in Circleville Herald, 92nd year, number 55, Circleville, Oh., page 18, column 1The jacket helps cover some of the bareness while still giving the illusion of lots of bare skin. A dressy suit with a strapless top is a wonderful look that will take you to many kinds of occasions. The best bare options are a tank-topped dress, either long or short, or a slip-topped dress with narrow shoestring straps.
1988, Barbara Coffey, Look 10 Pounds Thinner, 10 Years Younger—Instantly: A No-Diet, No-Exercise Plan, New York, N.Y.: Prentice Hall Press, →ISBN, page 62Linda and Jenna converged on the front door simultaneously, Jenna still in a pair of silk tank-topped pajamas.
2006, Jan Bornstein, Beyond Beautiful (The Song Trilogy; 1), Portsmouth, N.H.: Back Channel Press, →ISBN, page 6
Origin
Cite this entry
tank-topped. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tank-topped
“tank-topped.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tank-topped. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tank-topped,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tank-topped.
Source: tank-topped on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.