think tank

noun

: an institute, corporation, or group organized to study a particular subject (such as a policy issue or a scientific problem) and provide information, ideas, and advice

an information technology think tank

… was responsible for the armies of new political-action committees, lobbyists and rightward think tanks that poured into Washington to counter the consumer and environmental movements he helped to inspire.

—Jonathan Rowe

Examples of think tank in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank, said Trump would be repeating the same policy mistake as his predecessor, Democratic former President Joe Biden. — Bill Barrow, Arkansas Online, 11 Sep. 2026

Research from the conservative think tank Institute for Family Studies found that more than 60% of 17-year-olds cannot go beyond their own neighborhoods unsupervised. — Rachel Hale, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026

Coal generation has stopped growing in 17 out of 26 Chinese provinces and regions, and fossil fuel use is reaching its peak in eight out of 11 industrial sectors, according to a new report by energy think tank Ember. — Eugenia Perozo, semafor.com, 8 Sep. 2026

When the war began, the Pentagon had almost 2,800 Patriot and THAAD missiles in its worldwide inventory, according to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an independent think tank. — Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for think tank

• gangplank
• nonbank
• outflank
• sandbank
• antitank
• interbank
• riverbank
• banc
• bank
• blank
• clank
• crank

Kids Definition

think tank

noun

: an organization formed to think up new solutions especially for social and scientific problems