anchor

== English == === Alternative forms === anchour (chiefly archaic) === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈæŋ.kə/ (US) enPR: ăngʹkər, IPA(key): /ˈæŋ.kɚ/ Rhymes: -æŋkə(ɹ) Hyphenation: an‧chor === Etymology 1 === From Middle English anker, from Old English ancor, ancra, from Latin ancora, from (or cognate with) Ancient Greek ἄγκυρα (ánkura). The modern form is a sixteenth-century modification after the Medieval Latin spelling anchora. Doublet of ancora, anker, angora, and Ankara. ==== Noun ==== anchor (plural anchors) (nautical) A tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement. (nautical) 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). (nautical) The combined anchoring gear (anchor, rode, bill/peak and fittings such as bitts, cat, and windlass.) (heraldry) 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. (Internet) A marked point in a document that can be the target of a hyperlink. (computing) 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. (television) An anchorman or anchorwoman. (athletics) The final runner in a relay race. (archery) A point that is touched by the draw hand or string when the bow is fully drawn and ready to shoot. (economics) A superstore or other facility that serves as a focus to bring customers into an area. Synonym: anchor tenant (figurative) That which gives stability or security. (architecture) A metal tie holding adjoining parts of a building together. (US) A screw anchor. (architecture) 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. (cartomancy) The thirty-fifth Lenormand card. (slang) The brake of a vehicle. 2005, urban legend, The Wordsworth Book of Urban Legend, Wordsworth Editions, page 150: [Police:] ‘… when we blow the horn, you do an emergency stop.’ So the foaf did as he was bid and, hearing an almighty horn blast stepped on the anchors. There was a most tremendous crash as the Police car ran into the back of his Austin. (soccer) A defensive player, especially one who counters the opposition's best offensive player. (cricket) A batter who remains in for a long time. (climbing) A device for attaching a climber at the top of a climb, such as a chain or ring or a natural feature. ===== Usage notes ===== Formerly a vessel would differentiate amongst the anchors carried as waist anchor, best bower, bower, stream and kedge anchors, depending on purpose and, to a great extent, on mass and size of the anchor. Modern usage is storm anchor for the heaviest anchor with the longest rode, best bower or simply bower for the most commonly used anchor deployed from the bow, and stream or lunch hook for a small, light anchor used for temporary moorage and often deployed from the stern. ===== Hyponyms ===== (television): anchorwoman, anchoress ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== → Chuukese: angko ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === 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. ==== Verb ==== anchor (third-person singular simple present anchors, present participle anchoring, simple past and past participle anchored) 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. ===== Synonyms ===== (to hold an object to a fixed point): affix, fix (to cast anchor): drop anchor, ride, (to stop): cease, hold; See also Thesaurus:stop (to provide emotional stability): support (to perform as a TV anchorman): host, present (to be stuck): bog down, embog, enmire ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === Inherited from Middle English ankre, ancre, from Old English ancer, ancra, from Latin anachōrēta, anachōrīta, either with significant shortening of the word within Old English or via an unattested Old Irish form. ==== Noun ==== anchor (plural anchors) (obsolete) An anchorite or anchoress. ===== Derived terms ===== === Etymology 4 === Alternative form. ==== Noun ==== anchor (plural anchors) Alternative form of anker. === References === === Anagrams === Charon, achorn, archon, noarch, rancho == Asturian == === Etymology === Compare anchu. === Noun === anchor m (plural anchores) width ==== Synonyms ==== ancheza anchura ==== Related terms ==== anchu == Irish == === Etymology === From an- (“bad, unnatural”) +‎ cor (“turn”) (compare droch-chor (“bad turn; unfortunate happening, ill plight”)). === Noun === anchor m (genitive singular anchoir) ill-treatment ==== Declension ==== === Mutation === === Further reading === Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “anchor”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN == Middle English == === Noun === anchor (Late Middle English) alternative form of ankre == Spanish == === Etymology === From ancho +‎ -or. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /anˈt͡ʃoɾ/ [ãnʲˈt͡ʃoɾ] Rhymes: -oɾ Syllabification: an‧chor === Noun === anchor m (plural anchores) (rare) width Synonyms: anchura, ancho === Further reading === “anchor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025