anchor

Syllables: an·chor/ˈæŋ.kɚ/UK/ˈæŋ.kəː/

anchor noun: a tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement. Also the alternative form of anker.

Image: Rzuwig, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

anchor (plural anchors)

A tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement.
- Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
An iron device so shaped as to grip the bottom and hold a vessel at her berth by the chain or rope attached.
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.
(Internet) 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.
- Condoleezza Rice pops up on Fox to be told by the anchor: “When you invade a sovereign nation, that is a war crime.”2022 March 17, Aditya Chakrabortty, “Western values? They enthroned the monster who is shelling Ukrainians today”, in The Guardian
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.
- Supermarkets have also had to adjust. Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda have put a much greater emphasis on developing smaller high street stores or becoming anchors for mixed-used regeneration schemes […]2006, Planning: For the Natural and Built Environment, numbers 1650-1666, page 15
- However, mall developers offer huge discounts to department stores because these anchors create traffic […]2007, A. Sivakumar, Retail Marketing, page 102
Synonyms:

anchor tenant
(figuratively) That which gives stability or security.
- which hope we have as an anchor of the soul1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrew 6:19

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A metal tie holding adjoining parts of a building together.
(US) 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.
(slang) The brake of a vehicle.
- I saw Tim look back through the rear window of the cab and prayed he wouldn't do the first thing that came into his mind and step on the anchors.1967, Terry Carr, New Worlds of Fantasy, Ace Books, page 56
- [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.2005, urban legend, The Wordsworth Book of Urban Legend, Wordsworth Editions, page 150
A defensive player, especially one who counters the opposition's best offensive player.
- Phil Foden once again demonstrated his pedigree and will push for a start, while Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips will hope he has done enough to get a chance as a defensive midfield anchor if Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson fails to recover full fitness after groin surgery.2021 March 31, Phil McNulty, “England 2-1 Poland: What shape are Gareth Southgate's side in?”, in BBC Sport
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.

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.

Synonyms:

affix, fix
To cast anchor; to come to anchor.
- Our ship (or the captain) anchored in the stream.
Synonyms:

drop anchor, ride
To stop; to fix or rest.
- My invention […] anchors on Isabel.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Synonyms:

cease
To provide emotional stability for a person in distress.

Synonyms:

support
To perform as an anchorman or anchorwoman.

Synonyms:

host, present
To be stuck; to be unable to move away from a position.
- It is an incredible tale and one that makes no sense on so many levels. Only two years ago Leicester were anchored to the foot of the Premier League and staring at the prospect of relegation to the Championship under Nigel Pearson.2017 March 14, Stuart James, “Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight after Kasper Schmeichel save”, in the Guardian
Synonyms:

bog down, embog, enmire

Noun (2)

anchor (plural anchors)

(obsolete) An anchorite or anchoress.
- Nor earth to me giue foode, nor heauen light, / Sport and repoſe lock from me day and night, / To deſperation turn my truſt and hope, / And Anchors cheere in priſon be my ſcope, […]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604...

Proper noun capitalized: Anchor

Anchor

A male given name.

Also used as

anchor is also the alternative form of anker.

anchor meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

anchor in Hindi

tool to moor a vessel into sea bottom: लंगर laṅgar, नंगर naṅgar
(TV) anchorman or anchorwoman: उद्घोषक udghoṣak, अनाउन्सार anāunsār, प्रस्तुतकर्ता prastutkartā, घोषक ghoṣak, घोषिका ghoṣikā

anchor in Tamil

tool to moor a vessel into sea bottom: நங்கூரம் naṅkūram

anchor in Marathi

tool to moor a vessel into sea bottom: नांगर nāṅgar

anchor in Urdu

tool to moor a vessel into sea bottom: لَن٘گَر laṅgar
(TV) anchorman or anchorwoman: نَشَر کار naśar kār, اَناؤُنْسَر anāunsar, میزْبان mezbān

More languagesFewer languages

anchor in Bengali: নঙ্গর noṅgor, নোঙ্গর nōṅgor, ঘোষক ghōśok, উপস্থাপক uposthapok
anchor in Telugu: లంగరు laṅgaru
anchor in Malayalam: നങ്കൂരം naṅkūraṁ, അവതാരകൻ avatārakaṉ, അവതാരിക avatārika, നങ്കൂരമിടുക naṅkūramiṭuka
anchor in Kannada: ಲಂಗರು laṅgaru
anchor in Gujarati: લંગર laṅgar, બિલાડી bilāḍī, નાંગર nā̃gar
anchor in Odia: ଲଙ୍ଗର laṅgara
anchor in Assamese: কাঁকৰা kãkora
anchor in Nepali: एङ्कर गर्न, एन्कर गर्न
anchor in Pashto: لنګر langar, وياند wiyānd, ويانده wiyānda, اعلان کوونکی e’lān kawúnkay
anchor in Tagalog: pasangit, angkla, angkora, sawo
anchor in Arabic: مِرْسَاة mirsāh, أَنْجَر ʔanjar, مُذِيع muḏīʕ, مُذِيعَة muḏīʕa
anchor in Malay: sauh, jangkar, anjar, juruhebah
anchor in Indonesian: jangkar, penyiar
anchor in Thai: สมอ sà-mɔ̌ɔ, ผู้ประกาศ pûu-bprà-gàat
anchor in Vietnamese: neo, mỏ neo, phát thanh viên
anchor in Myanmar: ကျောက် kyauk, ကျောက်ဆူး kyaukhcu:, ကြေညာသူ kre-nyasu

Examples of anchor in a sentence

The fluke of the anchor was wedged between two outcroppings of rock and could not be dislodged.
The Constitution is anchored in English liberal thought and the Magna Carta.
The kelp specimen uses its haptera to anchor itself to the rocks.

All 40 example sentences with anchor

Synonyms of anchor

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All synonyms of anchor

Forms of anchor

Noun
plural	anchors
alternative form (archaic)	anchour
Verb
third-person singular present	anchors
present participle	anchoring
past participle	anchored
past	anchored

Past tense of anchor: anchored

Plural of anchor: anchors

Origin of anchor

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.

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.

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.

Words formed from anchor

Phrases with anchor

42 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with anchor

6 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about anchor

What does anchor mean?: Anchor means a tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement.
What is anchor in Hindi?: Anchor in Hindi is लंगर (laṅgar), नंगर (naṅgar), उद्घोषक (udghoṣak). See Anchor meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is anchor?: Anchor can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce anchor?: Anchor is pronounced /ˈæŋ.kəː/ (UK).
What is the plural of anchor?: The plural of anchor is anchors.

Words near anchor in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: anchor (page history and authors); Anchor (page history and authors); anchor (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-anchor.ogg.

Cite this entry: “anchor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/anchor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.