as in flopping
to be unsuccessful
her intended comeback movie tanked at the box office, and once again she was relegated to TV guest spots
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Recent Examples of tanking
Another approach would be someone with experience in tanking, if not exactly rushing out to locate Sam Hinkie, just someone with definitive thoughts, and perhaps previous success, with the approach.
—
Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2026
The Heat was without its two leading scorers in guards Norman Powell (illness) and Tyler Herro (personal reasons) on Saturday, but still crushed the tanking Wizards by 16 points on Saturday.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2026
Boston will play four playoff teams (Knicks, Raptors, Hornets, Magic) and two tanking teams (Pelicans, Bucks) before the regular season ends.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2026
There have been a lot of clean wins against tanking teams, but there have also been impressive victories over the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors; two close losses to their potential first-round opponent, the San Antonio Spurs; and now a five-game winning streak.
—Jared Weiss, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026
The absence of defense allowed the tanking Mavericks to stay within striking distance most of the game.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 26 Mar. 2026
In a matchup of teams widely believed to be tanking in order to improve their draft prospects, the Wizards never trailed and pulled ahead by 37 late in the third quarter.
—ABC News, 25 Mar. 2026
Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2026
The Heat was without its two leading scorers in guards Norman Powell (illness) and Tyler Herro (personal reasons) on Saturday, but still crushed the tanking Wizards by 16 points on Saturday.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2026
Boston will play four playoff teams (Knicks, Raptors, Hornets, Magic) and two tanking teams (Pelicans, Bucks) before the regular season ends.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2026
There have been a lot of clean wins against tanking teams, but there have also been impressive victories over the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors; two close losses to their potential first-round opponent, the San Antonio Spurs; and now a five-game winning streak.
—Jared Weiss, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026
The absence of defense allowed the tanking Mavericks to stay within striking distance most of the game.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 26 Mar. 2026
In a matchup of teams widely believed to be tanking in order to improve their draft prospects, the Wizards never trailed and pulled ahead by 37 late in the third quarter.
—ABC News, 25 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tanking
Verb
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Magnus shook his head, his damp hair flopping against the back of his neck.—
Ben Mezrich,
Vanity Fair,
6 Apr. 2026
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And who knows — the Warriors might have won Sunday if Porziņģis hadn’t fallen prey to Alpren Sengun’s flopping.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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For three years after the outbreak, Mitani and his collaborator, Aaron Sandel, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Texas, documented the collapsing social bonds between the sets of chimps.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
9 Apr. 2026
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Video footage from the apartment complex showed Kirkland speaking to several people in the Jeep before backing away and collapsing, the court document said.—
Caroline Zimmerman,
Kansas City Star,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Florida Justice Association — the trial lawyer lobby — spent millions to stop the reforms Maxwell now blames for failing consumers.—
David Wilson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Apr. 2026
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The 2023 jury found the Berkshire utility liable for negligently failing to shut down power lines during a powerful windstorm, contributing to four separate wildfires that caused significant property damage.—
Alex Crippen,
CNBC,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Some omelets are made lighter by separating the yolks and whites, beating up the latter, and folding in the former.—
Jeffrey Steingarten,
Vogue,
5 Apr. 2026
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Thousands of people gather with blankets, folding chairs and snacks on Sundays during the summer to listen to the lineup.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Dave Walton, a corn, soybean, and hay farmer in Iowa and vice president of the American Soybean Association, said in March that some of his neighbors didn’t have cash on hand last fall to buy fertilizer and were struggling to budget for fertilizer due to high prices.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 Apr. 2026
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But even a young woman struggling with the patriarchal conundrum of cool-girl syndrome (to be independent and accepted) might reveal more of a snappish turn of mind than Grace does.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Susan Butts Tiffani McInnis endured the typical teenage growing pains under the shadow of her mother's missing person investigation.—
Peter Van Sant,
CBS News,
12 Apr. 2026
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The remains of one of his two daughters were still missing, believed to be trapped under rubble, as search operations concluded Saturday, three days after the attacks.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The next day, the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, launching the country into war.—
Cora Engelbrecht,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
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Human Rights Watch has said bombing them would constitute a war crime.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tanking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tanking. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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