Tank top - Definition and Overview

The two runners in the above photograph are wearing different styles of tank top.

In American English a tank top is a sleeveless shirt that can be worn by either sex. The term is also used in Australian English, however the term singlet is more common. The name derives from its resemblance to a tank suit, a style of one-piece women's swim suit with shoulder straps. ("Tank suit" in turn refers to "swimming tank," an obsolete term for what are now called "swimming pools.")

Tank tops are often worn by athletes in sports such as Track and field and bicycling.

Tank tops have been popular summer casual wear in the United States since the 1980s and are regarded as acceptable public casual dress in most locales there.

Elsewhere, the term singlet or vest may be used.

In British English a tank top denotes a sleeveless pullover.

See also

• Wife beater