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
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Universal savings accounts, with fewer strings attached, would be a simpler alternative proposal at a lower price tag, according to Adam Michel, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, a public policy think tank. Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 17 June 2025 Undocumented immigrants contributed $8.5 billion in state and local taxes in 2022, according to a 2024 study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank. Bailey Schulz, USA Today, 14 June 2025 Irina, a Russian-American children's book illustrator in London, is married to Lawrence, a boring researcher at a prestigious think tank. Jessica Stanley, People.com, 13 June 2025 The other is the Warsaw Enterprise Institute (WEI), a multifaceted pro-free-market think tank founded also in 2013. Alejandro Antonio Chafuen, Forbes.com, 13 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for think tank

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of think tank was in 1958

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Cite this Entry

“Think tank.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/think%20tank. Accessed 27 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

think tank

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

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