- a heavy metal object that is attached to a rope or chain and dropped over the side of a ship or boat to keep it in one place
- to drop anchor
- We raised the anchor and set sail.
- We weighed anchor (= pulled it out of the water).
- at anchor The ship lay at anchor two miles off the rocky coast.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + anchor- cast
- drop
- lower
- …
- at anchor
- a person or thing that gives somebody a feeling of safety
- the anchor of the family
- a person who presents a live radio or television programme and introduces reports by other people; an anchorman or anchorwoman
- She was questioned by an NBC anchor about her trip.
- ABC news anchor Peter Jennings
Word OriginOld English ancor, ancra, via Latin from Greek ankura; reinforced in Middle English by Old French ancre. The current form is from anchora, an erroneous Latin spelling. The verb (from Old French ancrer) dates from Middle English.
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anchor