# anchor

Pronunciation: US say "ANG-kur" /ˈæŋ.kɚ/; UK say "ANG-kuh" /ˈæŋ.kə/

## Noun

1. A heavy device lowered to the seabed or riverbed to hold a vessel in place against current and wind.
   - Simple: A heavy metal hook dropped into the water to hold a boat in one place.
   - _The crew lowered the anchor as soon as they reached the sheltered bay._
   - _Heavy seas dragged the anchor across the seabed overnight._
3. Something or someone that provides a sense of stability or security in life.
   - Simple: A person or thing that makes you feel safe and steady.
   - _Throughout the crisis, his faith remained his one true anchor._
   - _The community center became an anchor for newly arrived families._
4. The lead presenter who coordinates and delivers a television or radio news broadcast.
   - Simple: The main person who presents a TV or radio news show.
   - _The network's lead anchor opened the broadcast with breaking news._
   - _Viewers trusted the anchor to deliver the night's headlines clearly._
7. A large store or facility that draws customers into an area, supporting the businesses around it.
   - Simple: A big store that brings lots of shoppers into an area.
   - _Developers signed a national chain as the mall's anchor before construction began._
   - _The department store served as the anchor that kept the plaza busy._
8. The final runner on a relay team, responsible for completing the last leg of the race.
   - Simple: The last runner on a relay team, who finishes the race.
   - _The coach chose their quickest sprinter as the anchor._
   - _As anchor, he took the baton in second place and surged ahead._
9. A marked point in a document that a hyperlink can target, allowing a reader to jump directly to it.
   - Simple: A marked spot in a page that a link can jump straight to.
   - _The author added an anchor at every chapter so links could point precisely._
   - _A broken anchor sends the reader to the top of the page instead of the right section._
10. A secure attachment point at the top of a climb (a chain, ring, or natural feature) that holds a climber safely.
   - Simple: A strong fixed point at the top of a climb that a climber can clip onto.
   - _The lead climber built an anchor from two bolts and a sling._
   - _A solid anchor at the summit let the team rappel down safely._
11. Any device that holds something firmly in place much as a ship's anchor does, such as timber bracing a dam or a fitting securing a bridge cable.
   - Simple: Any device that holds something firmly in place, like a ship's anchor does.
   - _The suspension bridge transfers its load through a massive anchor buried in the hillside._
   - _In the foundry, an anchor held the core steady while molten metal filled the mold._
12. A metal tie used to hold adjoining parts of a building firmly together.
   - Simple: A metal piece that holds two parts of a building tightly together.
   - _A wrought-iron anchor tied the brick facade to the timber floor frame._
   - _Inspectors found that a corroded anchor had let the wall bow outward._
13. A threaded fastener driven into a wall or other material to provide a secure hold for screws or fixtures. *(US)*
   - Simple: A fastener that screws into a wall to hold up something heavy.
   - _She drilled a hole and tapped an anchor in before mounting the cabinet._
   - _The heavy mirror needed a sturdy anchor in each corner._
17. A defensive player, especially one assigned to counter the opposition's strongest attacker.
   - Simple: A defending player whose job is to stop the other team's best attacker.
   - _Their anchor neutralized the league's leading goalscorer for ninety minutes._
   - _A disciplined anchor can frustrate even the most creative forward._
18. The braking mechanism of a vehicle, used to slow it down or bring it to a stop. *(slang)*
   - Simple: The brake a driver uses to slow down or stop a vehicle.
   - _He jammed on the anchor the moment the child stepped into the road._
   - _The old van's anchors barely held on the steep hill._
19. A batter who remains at the crease for a long time.
   - Simple: In cricket, a batter who stays in to bat for a long time.
   - _The team's anchor batted through the entire afternoon session._
   - _With wickets tumbling, the anchor steadied the innings and refused to give up his wicket._
20. A depiction of the nautical tool, borne as a charge on a coat of arms.
   - Simple: A picture of a ship's anchor used as a design on a coat of arms.
   - _The blazon places a silver anchor on an azure field._
   - _Many port cities adopted an anchor as the principal charge on their arms._
21. In archery, the point touched by the draw hand or string when the bow is fully drawn and ready to shoot.
   - Simple: In archery, the spot on the face that the drawing hand touches when the bow is pulled back fully.
   - _She drew the bowstring to her anchor just below her chin._
   - _Consistent shooting depends on returning to the same anchor with every draw._
22. In programming, a line of code that serves as a reference point for inserting further code immediately before or after it, usually by copy and paste.
   - Simple: In coding, a line of code used as a marker showing where to paste new code.
   - _The developer placed an anchor above the loop to mark the insertion point._
   - _Each template includes an anchor where generated code is pasted during the build._
23. The complete ground tackle of a vessel, including the hook itself, its rode and its fittings.
   - Simple: All the gear that holds a ship in place, including the hook, its rope or chain and the parts that work them.
   - _The bosun overhauled the anchor, greasing the windlass and checking every shackle of the rode._
   - _Heavy seas had strained the vessel's anchor, fraying part of the rode._
24. Carved ornamentation roughly resembling an anchor or arrowhead, forming part of certain moldings, as in the egg-and-anchor pattern.
   - Simple: A carved decoration shaped a bit like an anchor or arrowhead, used on some molding.
   - _The cornice displays a carved anchor set between two rounded eggs in the molding._
   - _Restorers recut each weathered anchor along the temple's ornamental band._
25. In cartomancy, the thirty-fifth card of the Lenormand deck.
   - Simple: In fortune-telling, the thirty-fifth card in a Lenormand deck.
   - _The anchor fell beside the heart, which the reader took to mean lasting love._
   - _In her spread, the anchor signaled security in matters of career._
26. An anchor-shaped spicule (a tiny skeletal element) found in certain sponges.
   - Simple: A tiny anchor-shaped support spike found in some sponges.
   - _Each anchor grips the surrounding tissue, helping the sponge resist tearing._
   - _The species is identified partly by the shape of its anchors near the body wall._
27. A small calcareous spinule, shaped like an anchor, found in certain sea cucumbers such as Synapta.
   - Simple: A tiny anchor-shaped chalky spine found in some sea cucumbers.
   - _Each anchor catches on the sediment, helping Synapta cling to the bottom._
   - _The skin of these worms is reinforced with countless calcareous anchors._

## Verb

2. To fix an object, especially a ship or boat, firmly to a fixed point.
   - Simple: To fix something firmly in place so it cannot move.
   - _Engineers anchor the floating platform to the seabed with steel cables._
   - _They anchored the boat to a heavy mooring buoy before nightfall._
5. To work as the lead presenter who delivers and coordinates a news broadcast.
   - Simple: To present and lead a news show on TV or radio.
   - _They asked her to anchor the network's election coverage._
   - _He anchored the nightly broadcast for over a decade._
6. To lower the anchor and bring a vessel to rest at a chosen spot.
   - Simple: To drop the anchor so a boat stops and stays in one place.
   - _The fleet anchored in the bay to wait out the storm._
   - _Large vessels often anchor outside the port until a berth opens._
14. To bring something to a stop and keep it fixed or at rest in one place.
   - Simple: To stop something and hold it firmly in one place.
   - _The hikers anchored themselves against the rock to rest._
   - _Strong roots anchor the tree against the fiercest winds._
15. To give a person a sense of emotional stability during a time of distress.
   - Simple: To help someone feel calm and steady when they are upset.
   - _His steady presence anchored the family through their grief._
   - _A trusted mentor can anchor a student through stressful exams._
16. To remain stuck in place, unable to move away from a position.
   - Simple: To stay fixed in one spot and be unable to move away.
   - _Soldiers sometimes anchor where they stand, frozen by the noise of battle._
   - _His shoes seemed to anchor to the icy ground, and he could not step forward._

## Noun

28. A religious recluse, male or female, who withdraws from the world to live a solitary life of prayer; an anchorite or anchoress. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A religious hermit who lives alone, shut away from the world for prayer.
   - _The anchor had not stepped beyond her cell in forty years, devoting each day to prayer._
   - _A holy anchor dwelt in the cell against the north wall, speaking to pilgrims only through a narrow window._
29. Alternative form of anker. Obsolete. *(obsolete)* — Alternative form of anker.
   - Simple: Alternative form of anker. This old spelling for a measure of wine or spirits is no longer used.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3–4, 7–13, 17–27** — From Middle English anker, from Old English ancor, from Latin ancora, which is from or related to Ancient Greek ἄγκυρα (ánkura). The modern 'ch' spelling is a sixteenth-century change based on the Medieval Latin form anchora.
**Meanings 2, 5–6, 14–16** — From Middle English anchoren, ankeren, either formed from the noun or perhaps (through Old French ancrer) from a Medieval Latin verb ancorare, all going back to the Latin word ancora.
**Meaning 28** — Inherited from Middle English ankre, from Old English ancer, ancra, from Latin anachōrēta, either with significant shortening within Old English or through an unattested Old Irish form.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/anchor (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).