think tank

plural think tanks · alternative thinktank · alternative think-tank

1. idiomaticA group of people who collectively perform research and develop reports and recommendations on topics relating to strategic planning or public policy, and which is usually funded by corporate, government, or special interests.

   Why don't we take a leaf out of the government's book and have a think tank?

   1974, The Think Tank (Are You Being Served?), season 2, episode 3, spoken by "Captain" Stephen Peacock (Frank Thornton)

   2 more examples

   As 1965 drew to a close a secret research project for the United States Department of Defense was concluded by a ‘think-tank’ of seven psychologists at the American Institute for Research, in the Maryland woods outside Washington, DC.

   1978, Peter Watson, War on the Mind, New York: Basic Books, →ISBN, page 21

   “Who could believe that the head of a think tank doesn’t think?” said Charles Jacobs, the president of the Jewish Leadership Project, which resigned from a Heritage Foundation task force meant to fight antisemitism after Mr. [Kevin D.] Roberts’s video was released.

   2025 November 13, David A. Fahrenthold, Ken Bensinger, quoting Charles Jacobs, “Under Fire for Tucker Carlson Remarks, Think Tank Chief Pleads Ignorance”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC

   Synonyms: think factory

2. obsoleteThe brain.

   1 more example

   Slade’s eyes, china blue and menacing, held hers for an instant, then he turned again to her father and completed his sentence, “or else I think I know a stunt that will speed up your work . . . something that will make your think-tank bubble a bit faster. And if it don’t, then you’ll learn something about Hoppy Slade that you didn’t know before. Go to bed and sleep on that!”

   1937, Madge Macbeth, Wings in the West, London: J. Hamilton, page 261