think tank

noun

Definition of think tank

: 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

But matters are actually worse than any of these numbers would suggest, according to a 2018 report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), a think tank that looks at public policy through the lens of gender. — Anna North, Vox, "You’ve heard that women make 80 cents to men’s dollar. It’s much worse than that.," 2 Apr. 2019 Six hundred million people are dealing with high to extreme water shortage, according to a report by Niti Aayog, a policy think tank for the Indian government. — Swati Gupta, CNN, "India facing its worst water shortage in history, report says," 15 June 2018 Last spring, the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank with a close relationship to the Democratic Party, proposed a version of a federal jobs guarantee. — Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, "Democrats Are Rushing Into a Job Guarantee. It Could Be a Huge Mistake.," 25 Apr. 2018 Justin Bronk of British military think tank RUSI told Popular Mechanics. — David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, "The Truth Behind Russia’s 'Apocalypse Torpedo'," 18 Jan. 2019 Using the spending measure, poverty is closer to the 3 percent figure Trump's economic council used, said Robert Rector, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. — Jeff Stein And Tracy Jan, chicagotribune.com, "White House declares war on poverty 'largely over' amid push to revamp social programs," 14 July 2018 Meanwhile, Charlie Chieppo of the Pioneer Institute, a conservative think tank, believes the T did not wield its powers strongly enough over the three years. — Adam Vaccaro, BostonGlobe.com, "MBTA loses reprieve from outsourcing restriction," 6 July 2018 The Jean Jaures Foundation, a think tank connected with the Socialist Party, studied online activity by Drouet and Nicolle, and said both are tacitly affiliated with France’s far-right party. — Lori Hinnant, The Seattle Times, "French yellow vest movement dogged by intolerance, extremism," 29 Jan. 2019 Was a row about an anti-disinformation think tank part of a Russian influence campaign? — Casey Newton, The Verge, "How Congress missed another chance to hold big tech accountable," 12 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'think tank.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.