Tans

See also: tans, tāns, and tåns

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ænz

Noun

Tans pl (plural only)

1. (Ireland, British) The Black and Tans, a British irregular army group operating against Irish republicans in the War of Independence 1920/21.
   • 1931, John Bowyer Bell, To Play the Game: An Analysis of Sport:

     Intuitively, on Bloody Sunday, the Tans recognized where their trouble lay: the Irish were playing their own game once again.

   • 1955, General Tom Barry, Guerilla Days in Ireland:

     Close quarter fighting did not suit them. It does not suit the Essex or the Tans.

   • 1995, Lance Pettitt, Screening Ireland: Film and Television Representation:

     The Dawn contains two problems for its male protagonists: namely, Ireland's fight against the British forces, the RIC, and the Tans, and the patriotic commitment of the Malone family's sons.

Anagrams

• -stan, ASNT, NTAs, Nast, Nats, Sant, Stan, Tsan, ants, nats, stan, stan'