drunk tank

IPA/ˈdrʌŋk tæŋk/
IPA/ˈdrʌŋk tæŋk/

drunk tank — noun

1. a secure room at a police station or local jail where the authorities place peop

1.nounB2
Definition

a secure room at a police station or local jail where the authorities place people who have drunk too much alcohol until they become sober

Example

After the festival, the police took Anong to the drunk tank to sleep it off.

collocation: 'sleep it off' with drunk tank

After New Year's Eve, the drunk tank was full of people who drank too much.

passive: 'the drunk tank was full'

Common collocations
  • in the drunk tank
  • into the drunk tank
  • thrown in the drunk tank
  • spend a night in the drunk tank
  • sleep it off in the drunk tank
Synonyms
  • holding cell

    more general term for any temporary police detention room, not specific to intoxication

  • lockup

    informal term for any small jail cell; broader in usage

  • detention cell

    formal term; can refer to any secured holding room in a police station

Grammar Patterns

the drunk tank

in a/the drunk tank

throw someone in the drunk tank

Usage Note

Commonly appears with the definite article ('the drunk tank') and prepositions 'in' or 'into' ('thrown in the drunk tank'). The term is specific to North American English; British English prefers 'police cell' or 'detention cell' for the same concept.

Common Mistakes

The police put him in the drunk tank for questioning.
The police put him in the drunk tank to sober up.
a drunk tank is for holding intoxicated people until they are sober, not for interrogating suspects.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms describe temporary holding places at a police station, but they differ in specificity and register. 'Drunk tank' is the most specific — it refers exclusively to a cell for intoxicated people and carries an informal, slightly humorous tone. 'Holding cell' is a neutral, general term for any short-term detention room where suspects wait before being processed. 'Lockup' is also informal but generic — it can mean any small jail cell, especially one at a local police station. 'Detention cell' is the most formal and neutral, used in official or legal writing. For example, a police report might say 'the suspect was placed in a detention cell,' while friends joking about a wild night might say 'they threw him in the drunk tank.'

drunk tank ↗holding celllockup ↗detention cell

Etymology

Old EnglishPortugueseIndian languagesAmerican English

The compound 'drunk tank' joins the adjective 'drunk' (meaning intoxicated, from Old English 'druncen', the past participle of 'drincan' — to drink) with 'tank' (here meaning an enclosure or holding cell, from Portuguese 'tanque' via Indian languages, originally a reservoir or container, later extended in American English to mean a prison cell). The term first appeared in early 20th-century American police jargon to describe a specific holding cell for people arrested on public intoxication charges.

First known use

1947

1947, in the meaning defined above