anchor

Plural: anchors

Noun

• a mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving
• a central cohesive source of support and stability
  • "faith is his anchor"
• a television reporter who coordinates a broadcast to which several correspondents contribute
• 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.
• A line of code in a program which acts as a reference point for further code to be added immediately before or after, usually via copy and paste.
• 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.
• A screw anchor.
• 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.
• The brake of a vehicle.
• A defensive player, especially one who counters the opposition's best offensive player.
• A batter who remains in for a long time.
• A device for attaching a climber at the top of a climb, such as a chain or ring or a natural feature.
• An anchorite or anchoress.
• Alternative form of anker.

Verb

Verb Forms: anchored, anchoring, anchors

• To secure firmly in place.
• fix firmly and stably
  • "anchor the lamppost in concrete"
• secure a vessel with an anchor
  • "We anchored at Baltimore"
• To connect an object, especially a ship or a boat, to a fixed point.
• To cast anchor; to come to anchor.
• To stop; to fix or rest.
• To provide emotional stability for a person in distress.
• To perform as an anchorman or anchorwoman.
• To be stuck; to be unable to move away from a position.

Examples

• Our ship (or the captain) anchored in the stream.
• She used a high-point tile to anchor her seven-letter word on the triple-word square.

Synonyms

anchorman, anchorperson, backbone, cast anchor, drop anchor, ground, ground tackle, keystone, linchpin, lynchpin, mainstay, affix, anchor tenant, bog down, cease, embog, enmire, fix, hold, host, present, support

Anagrams of anchor