I. ˈaŋ-kər noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English ancre, from Old English ancor, from Latin anchora, from Greek ankyra; akin to Old English anga hook — more at angle
Date: before 12th century
1. : a device usually of metal attached to a ship or boat by a cable and cast overboard to hold it in a particular place by means of a fluke that digs into the bottom
2. : a reliable or principal support : mainstay
3. : something that serves to hold an object firmly
4. : an object shaped like a ship's anchor
5. : an anchorman or anchorwoman
6. : the member of a team (as a relay team) that competes last
7. : a large business (as a department store) that attracts customers and other businesses to a shopping center or mall
8. : a fixed object (as a tree or a piton) to which a climber's rope is secured
• an·chor·less -ləs adjective
•
- at anchor
[
anchor 1: A yachtsman's: 1 ring, 2 stock, 3 shank, 4 bill, 5 fluke, 6 arm, 7 throat, 8 crown; B fluke; C grapnel; D plow; E mushroom
]
II. verb
( an·chored ; an·chor·ing -k(ə-)riŋ)
Date: 13th century
transitive verb
1. : to hold in place in the water by an anchor
anchor a ship
2. : to secure firmly : fix
anchor a post in concrete
3. : to act or serve as an anchor for
it is she who is anchor ing the rebuilding campaign — G. D. Boone
anchor ing the evening news
intransitive verb
1. : to cast anchor
2. : to become fixed