anchor

Meanings

1. A heavy metal object dropped into the water to keep a ship from drifting.
2. A person or thing that provides stability.
3. A person who presents a news program.

Example sentences

• "The captain ordered the crew to drop the anchor."

  Level A2, Meaning 1

• "The old ship lay at anchor in the bay."

  Level B1, Meaning 1

• "Her grandmother was the anchor of the family."

  Level B2, Meaning 2

• "The news anchor read the headlines."

  Level B1, Meaning 3

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• mooring : A mooring is a place where a boat is tied. An anchor is the heavy tool that holds the boat in place.
• buoy : A buoy is a floating marker. An anchor sits on the sea bed.

Word family and forms

Forms: anchors

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "anchor".

• drop anchor
• weigh anchor
• at anchor
• a news anchor
• an anchor point
• the anchor of the family

Idioms and phrases

drop anchor

To stop and stay in a place, especially of a ship.

"The ship dropped anchor in a quiet bay."

Origin

Anchor comes from Old English ancor, from Latin ancora, which came from the Greek word ankyra for an anchor. English had the word before the year 900. The modern spelling is a change from the 1500s that copied the Latin form.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

Usage notes

Also used figuratively for something or someone that provides stability, as in "family is her anchor".

How to remember it

Anchor has a silent h: ANK-er. Think of a ship held in place by a heavy hook.

Test yourself

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