moorings

Noun

mooring (plural moorings)

1. A place to moor a vessel.
   • Then did the comet break loose from his moorings and the eclipse roamed about the sky, and down on the earth did Death’s three children—Famine, Pestilence, and Drought—come out to feed.1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 31
2. The act of securing a vessel with a cable or anchor etc.
3. (figuratively) Something to which one adheres, or the means that helps one to maintain a stable position and keep one's identity - moral, intellectual, political, etc.
   • The party of pro-slavery reaction was for the moment in the ascendant; and as by an irresistible impulse, the Supreme Court of the United States was swept from its hitherto impartial judicial moorings into the dangerous seas of polities.1890, John George Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln: A History

See all 5 meanings of mooring