Word.ws English Dictionary

drop anchor

drop anchor verb: to release the anchor of a ship or boat, allowing it to fall to the bed of a body of water and thereby securing the vessel in place.

Verb

drop anchor (third-person singular simple present drops anchor, present participle dropping anchor, simple past and past participle dropped anchor)

  1. To release the anchor of a ship or boat, allowing it to fall to the bed of a body of water and thereby securing the vessel in place.
    Synonyms:
    cast anchor
    Antonyms:
    weigh anchor
  2. To stop travelling and settle down.
    • […] had emigrated first to one country, then to another, till he finally dropped anchor in London.1895, Allen Upward, The Prince of Balkistan, page 237
  3. (euphemistic) To defecate.
    • Junkyard Dog always stopped for lengthy bathroom breaks by announcing his intentions in advance, using a different euphemism every time, saying, to name a few, "I have to: drop anchor... do some paperwork... lay some foundation... pinch a loaf... lighten my load...."2005, John Illig, Pacific Dream, →ISBN, page 204
    • And if you think things are bad after opening the piss box, imagine the smell after I drop anchor.2011, Andy Weir, chapter 9, in The Martian, →ISBN, page 95

drop anchor meaning in Vietnamese

drop anchor in Vietnamese

release the anchor of a ship
thả neo

Synonyms of drop anchor

27 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

Forms of drop anchor

third-person singular presentdrops anchor
present participledropping anchor
past participledropped anchor
pastdropped anchor

Questions about drop anchor

What does drop anchor mean?
Drop anchor means to release the anchor of a ship or boat, allowing it to fall to the bed of a body of water and thereby securing the vessel in place.
What is drop anchor in Vietnamese?
Drop anchor in Vietnamese is thả neo. See Drop anchor meaning in Vietnamese.
What part of speech is drop anchor?
Drop anchor is a verb.
What is the past tense of drop anchor?
The past tense of drop anchor is dropped anchor.

Words near drop anchor in the dictionary

  1. drop a load
  2. drop a log
  3. drop a nickel
  4. drop acid
  5. drop acid, not bombs
  6. drop anchor
  7. drop astern
  8. drop at comb
  9. drop attack
  10. drop attacks
  11. drop away

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: drop anchor (page history and authors). 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.

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