anchor

An anchor (nautical).

Meanings

Noun

  • A tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement.
  • An iron device so shaped as to grip the bottom and hold a vessel at her berth by the chain or rope attached. (FM 55-501).
  • The combined anchoring gear (anchor, rode, bill/peak and fittings such as bitts, cat, and windlass.)
  • Representation of the nautical tool, used as a heraldic charge.
  • Any instrument serving a purpose like that of a ship's anchor, such as an arrangement of timber to hold a dam fast; a device to hold the end of a bridge cable etc.; or a device used in metalworking to hold the core of a mould in place.
  • A marked point in a document that can be the target of a hyperlink.
  • An anchorman or anchorwoman.
  • The final runner in a relay race.
  • A point that is touched by the draw hand or string when the bow is fully drawn and ready to shoot.
  • A superstore or other facility that serves as a focus to bring customers into an area.
  • That which gives stability or security.
  • A metal tie holding adjoining parts of a building together.
  • Carved work, somewhat resembling an anchor or arrowhead; part of the ornaments of certain mouldings. It is seen in the echinus, or egg-and-anchor (called also egg-and-dart, egg-and-tongue) ornament.
  • One of the anchor-shaped spicules of certain sponges.
  • One of the calcareous spinules of certain holothurians, as in species of Synapta.
  • The thirty-fifth Lenormand card.
  • An anchorite or anchoress.
  • The brake of a vehicle.
  • A defensive player, especially one who counters the opposition's best offensive player.
  • A device for attaching a climber at the top of a climb, such as a chain or ring or a natural feature.
  • Alternative of anker

Verb

Related

Similar words

Origin

  • From Middle English anker, from Old English ancor, ancra, from Latin ancora, from (or cognate with) Ancient Greek ἄγκυρα. The modern spelling is a sixteenth-century modification to better represent the Latin spelling anchora, a variant of the older Latin spelling ancora.
  • From Middle English anchoren, ankeren, either from the noun or perhaps (via Old French ancrer) from a Medieval Latin verb ancorare, from the same Latin word ancora.
  • Alternative forms.

Modern English dictionary

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