drunk tank

noun

: a large detention cell for arrested drunks

Examples of drunk tank in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Prone to imbibe under pressure, our Hungarian expat celebrity ghost-hunter grows maddened by so many contradictory signals, till he’s thrown in the local drunk tank to sleep it off. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 30 Aug. 2023 Inside the infield's 'drunk tank' The grassy infield of Churchill Downs Racetrack is known as the place to party with abandon during the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby. Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 17 Apr. 2023 Mitchell was held in a cell known as the ‘drunk tank’ without a bed or toilet, according to Kelly’s lawsuit. Maham Javaid, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2023 The Bohemian waxwings that got drunk on fermented berries and then were locked in the government’s avian drunk tank. Eva Holland, Outside Online, 23 May 2019 The first week of January was then flooded with other seating position polls, with commenters weighing in on the best seat in a doomsday bunker, a Subway, an NYPD drunk tank, the Golden Globes, and the Seinfeld apartment. Andrea Park, Marie Claire, 22 Dec. 2020 The young folksinger from upstate New York spent a night in a drunk tank in New Orleans with a man who used the name Mr. Bojangles. Eva Hambach, National Geographic, 26 Oct. 2020 Their jail is used primarily as a drunk tank; 97% of the crimes committed by Alaska natives involve alcohol. CBS News, 3 June 2019 The planet is merely a drunk tank for heaven, a pointless stop on a final journey. Greg Gutfeld, Fox News, 12 Sep. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of drunk tank was in 1947

Dictionary Entries Near drunk tank

Cite this Entry

“Drunk tank.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drunk%20tank. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!