VOOZH about

URL: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/thank

⇱ THANK Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

thank

American  
[thangk] / θæŋk /

verb (used with object)

  1. to express gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgment to.

    She thanked them for their hospitality.

noun

  1. Usually thanks a grateful feeling or acknowledgment of a benefit, favor, or the like, expressed by words or otherwise.

    to return a borrowed book with thanks.

interjection

  1. thanks, (used as an informal expression of gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgment).

idioms

  1. no thanks to, (used to express annoyance) not owing to.

    I caught my flight after all, no thanks to you.

  2. thanks to, (used to express gratitude or blame) because of; owing to.

    Thanks to good organization and hard work, the benefit concert was a great success.

    The case went poorly thanks to the lawyer's incompetence.

  3. thank God, (used as an interjection to express relief, thankfulness, etc.) Also thank goodness, thank heaven

  4. have oneself to thank, to be personally to blame; have the responsibility.

    The citizens have only themselves to thank for corruption in government.

  5. thank you, (used as an interjection to express gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgment, as for a gift, favor, service, or courtesy).

thank British  
/ θæŋk /

verb

  1. to convey feelings of gratitude to

  2. to hold responsible

    he has his creditors to thank for his bankruptcy

  3. used in exclamations of relief

    thank goodness

    thank God

  4. used ironically to intensify a command, request, etc

    I'll thank you to mind your own business
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
thank More Idioms  

    More idioms and phrases containing thank

Other Word Forms

  • rethank verb (used with object)
  • thanker noun
  • unthanked adjective
  • unthanking adjective

Etymology

Origin of thank

First recorded before 900; Middle English (noun) “favorable thought, goodwill, gratitude,” (in singular and plural) expression of thanks; Old English thanc (in singular) expression of thanks, originally, “thought, thoughtfulness”; akin to think 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Philippa said the British government and Violet's family wrote to Mussolini following the attack to thank him and congratulate him on surviving, and to emphasise her mental instability.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

To ready the La Cañada home for its next occupants, Farr and her children flocked to the family nest one last time to thank it for being the launchpad from which they’ve all taken flight.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026

“I received so many letters, so much kindness to me and my whole family. We feel it. We feel your prayers. So thank you so much.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026

Millennial women, raised on platitudes that one person could change the world, really tried—and some of them, thank the goddesses, succeeded.

From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026

“I want to thank you properly tomorrow,” I started.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.