Forms: 1 ancor, -er, oncer, 1–7 ancre, 2–7 anker, 4–5 -yr, 4–6 -re, -ir, 6 ancour, anchore, (anger), 7 ankor, ancker, anchour, 6– anchor. [OE. ancor, a. L. ancora (sometimes erron. spelt anchora), ? cogn. w. or adoption of Gr. ἄγκῡρα, f. stem αγκ-, anc-. ‘bend, crook, hook,’ whence Eng. angle. Cf. OHG. anchar (LG., MHG. anker) directly cogn. w. OE.; also ON. akkeri (Sw. ankare, Da. anker) from L. independently. The ME. form with final -e is probably influenced by OFr. ancre:—L. ancora. The current spelling anchor is a pedantic corruption, imitating the erroneous L. anchora.]
1. An appliance for holding a ship, etc., fixed in a particular place, by mooring it to the bottom of the sea or river; now consisting of a heavy iron, composed of ‘a long shank, having a ring at one end to which the cable is fastened, and at the other branching out into two arms or flukes, tending upwards, with barbs or edges on each side.’ J.
Anchors are of various sizes. The largest is the SHEET-anchor; next in size are the BOWER-anchors, hung in the bows of the ship; the smallest is the KEDGE-ANCHOR. Foul anchor is when the anchor becomes in any way entangled.
c. 880. K. Ælfred, Boeth., x. 30. Ðin ancor is ʓit on eorþan fæst … Eala wæran þa ancras swa trume!
c. 1205. Lay., 25517. Wind wex an honde, ankeres [1250 ancreas] heo up droȝen.
a. 1230. Ancr. R., 142. Ase ancre under schipes borde, uorte holden þet schip.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., B. 418. Kable, oþer capstan to clyppe to her ankreȝ.
1382. Wyclif, Acts xxvii. 40. Thei hadden takun vp the ancris.
1480. Caxton, Chron. Eng., II. (1520), 10 b/2. Hé lete the ancres wynde up and sayled into the hye see.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, III. iv. 128. Of oure foreschip ankirris lete vve doun.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. iv. 26. Wedges of Gold, great Anchors, heapes of Pearle … All scattred in the bottome of the Sea.
1692. in Smith’s Seaman’s Gram., I. xvi. 75. The Anchor is foul, that is, the Cable is got about the Fluke.
1694. Lond. Gaz., mmmxxiii/1. As soon as they could get up their Anchors they sailed away. Ibid. (1709), mmmmdxxi/2. One of the Flukes of the Spare-Anchor [was] … shot off.
1727. Swift, Gulliver, I. v. 59. Not a ship would stir … too fast held by their anchors.
1779. Cook, Voy. (1790), V. 1818. We had lost our kedge anchor.
1807. Robinson, Archæol. Græca, IV. xv. 392. The most ancient anchors were only large stones bored through the middle.
1835. Sir J. Ross, N.-W. Pass., 598. To-day the ice set in,… obliging us to let go the bower anchor.
1864. Tennyson, Enoch Ard., 18. Anchors of rusty fluke.
2. fig. That which gives the feeling of stability or security; a ground or source of abiding confidence.
1382. Wyclif, Heb. vi. 19. The which as an ankir we han sikir to the soule [1611 Which hope we haue as an anker of the soule. (So in all other versions.)]
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 3780. So farith Love, that selde in oon Holdith his anker.
a. 1536. Tindale, Wks., 166 (R.). The roote and grounde of all, and the ancre that neuer fayleth.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., V. iv. 13. Say Warwicke was our Anchor: what of that?
1699. Bentley, Phal., 303. One Passage more … his last Anchor, to prove his notable point.
1754. Chatham, Lett., iv. 27. Hold fast … by this sheet-anchor of happiness, Religion.
1781. Cowper, Hope, 167. Hope as an anchor, sure and firm, holds fast.
1864. Tennyson, Enoch Ard., 222. Cast all your cares on God; that anchor holds.
¶ From the passage in Heb. vi. 19, quoted above, an anchor is used as the symbol of hope, as a cross is of faith, and a heart of love or charity.
3. transf. Any contrivance or instrument that fulfils a similar purpose to that of an anchor, by holding fast or giving security; also, an anchor-shaped appendage, as the spicules on the skin of Holothuroids.
1855. Gosse, Mar. Zool., I. 114. In Lerneoma the head … being furnished with a prong on each side curving backwards, forms a powerful anchor by which the parasite is firmly moored to its hapless prey.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. § 22. 157. In some places, however, the anchor [axe] had but a loose hold.
1870. Nicholson, Zool. (1880), 221. in Chirodota the skin is provided with microscopic calcareous wheels, in the place of anchors. Ibid. The Synaptæ … have the skin furnished with innumerable anchor-shaped spicules attached to special ‘anchor-plates’ in the integument.
† 4. From its action: The pin or ‘chape of a buckle; a buckle is usually described with its “tongue and anchor.”’ T. Obs.
5. Arch. ‘An ornament shaped similarly to an anchor or arrow-head; used with the egg ornament to decorate or enrich mouldings. Used in all the orders but only applied to the moulding called the Echinus or quarter round.’ Gwilt, 1876.
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, 70. Small Beads with round and long ones at one peny and … the edges and anckers at foure pence per foot.
1751. Chambers, Cycl., Anchor, in architecture and sculpture, denotes an ornament in form of an anchor, or arrow’s-head.
6. Phrases from sense 1. lit. and fig.
a. At (an, the, obs.) anchor, in OE. on ancre: anchored, held by the anchor.
a. 1000. Beowulf, 3771. Sæ-genga [i.e., the ship] se þe on ancre rád. Ibid., 611. Scip on ancre fæst.
1393. Gower, Conf., II. 27. His ship on anker rode.
c. 1530. Ld. Berners, Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814), 250. Manye shyppes, some vnder sayle … some lienge at the anger.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, V. ii. 129. The enemies fleet riding easily at an anker.
1633. P. Fletcher, Purple Isl., XII. lii. Whilst I in vale of tears at anchour ride.
1666. Pepys, Diary, 4 June. We found the Dutch fleet at anchor.
1740. Woodroofe, in Hanway Trav. (1762), I. IV. lix. 273. It is always found the best method to lie at single anchor.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., ciii. 20. A little shallop lay At anchor in the flood.
b. To come to (an) anchor: = ANCHOR v. 2, 4.
1590. Pasquil’s Apol., I. D iij b. But to come to anker … let them … become of one hart with vs.
1595. T. Maynard, Drake’s Voy. (1849), 7. On Friday … we came to anchor.
1790. Beatson, Nav. & Mil. Mem., I. 156. All the ships had come to an anchor.
c. To cast anchor: to let down or ‘drop’ the anchor; hence, to bring the ship to rest, to take up a position. Also of the ship: she cast anchor.
a. 1300. K. Horn, 1014. Hi strike seil and maste And ankere gunne caste.
c. 1450. Lonelich, Grail, xx. 122. Heren ancres they casten þere anon, Forto abyden there that nyht.
1526. Tindale, Acts xxvii. 29. They caste iiii ancres out of the sterne [Wyclif, sendinge foure ancris; 1611 cast foure ancres].
1719. De Foe, Crusoe (1865), 39. We dropped our little anchor, and lay still all night.
1780. W. Coxe, Russ. Discov., 31. They were driven to the other side of the same island, where they cast anchor.
d. To weigh anchor: to take up the anchor so as to sail away.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., C. 103. Wiȝt at þe wyndas weȝen her ankres.
c. 1440. Morte Arth., 493. Þey weyde up þeire ankyrs.
1583. Stanyhurst, Æneis, III. (Arb.), 78. We weyed the anchors.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, III. iv. And Cormac Doil in haste obey’d, Hoisted his sail, his anchor weigh’d.
e. The anchor comes home: i.e., is dragged from its hold. So, a ship drags her anchor. To slip the anchor, to let it go by letting the cable slip.
1694. Lond. Gaz., mmmxxiii/1. The Wind blowing very hard … riding in deep Water, his Ankors came home.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe (1865), 30. We thought once or twice our anchor had come home.
7. Comb. chiefly attrib., as anchor-ball (see quot.); anchor-chocks (see quot.); anchor-frost, a miller’s term for the clogging of a mill-wheel with ice below the water-surface; † anchor-gable, an anchor cable; anchor-ground, anchorage ground; anchor-hoops, iron hoops binding the stock to the shank of the anchor; anchor-ice, ice formed at the bottom of lakes and rivers, ground-ice; anchor-lining = BILL-BOARDS; † anchor-man, † anchor-master, he who has charge of the anchor; anchor-plate, a heavy piece of timber or metal, serving as a point of support (e.g., for the cables of a suspension-bridge); see also 3; anchor-ring, the great ring for attaching the cable; anchor-shackle, an iron loop used instead of an anchor-ring; anchor-smith, a maker of anchors; anchor-tow, the cable of an anchor; anchor-watch, a detachment of seamen kept on deck to perform any duties depending on the ship’s position while she lies at anchor.
Also anchor-like, -shaped, -wise; and ANCHOR-HOLD, -STOCK, q.v.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Anchor-ball, a pyrotechnical combustible attached to a grapnel for adhering to and setting fire to ships. Ibid., *Anchor-chocks, pieces indented into a wooden anchor-stock where it has become worn or defective in the way of the shank; also pieces of wood or iron on which an anchor rests when it is stowed.
1867. Whyte-Melville, in Fortn. Rev., Nov., 588. Merry enough and bright enough to thaw an *anchor-frost on the mill-wheel.
1609. Holland, Amm. Marcell., XIV. ii. 4. Creeping on all foure among the *anchor-gables.
1877. Green, Phys. Geol., iii. § 2. 109. *Anchor-ice forms sometimes … at the bottom of lakes and rivers while the rest of the water remains unfrozen.
a. 1200. in Wright, Voc., 88/2. Proreta, *ankermon.
1598. Florio, Ancoraio, an *anchor master or an *anchor maker.
1831. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, I. 95. Different *anchor-makers have their respective rules of proportion.
1870. [See 3].
1883. W. Conant, in Harper’s Mag., 932/1. At the bottom … are imbedded four massive *anchor plates of cast iron, one for each of the cables.
1662. Pepys, Diary, 27 April. Visited the Mayor, Mr. Timbull, our *anchor-smith.
1703. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 14. Chosen by *Anchor-Smiths, because it abides the Heat better than other Iron.
1637. Rutherford, Lett., 107 (1862), I. 271. The *anchor-tow abideth fast within the vail: the end of it is in Christ’s ten fingers.
c. 1860. Longf., Dutch Pict., ix. A ship that … tugs at her *anchor-tow.
1876. Davis, Polaris Exp., viii. 219. The tidal observations were made by … the *anchor-watch during the remaining nine hours.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., 195. The *anchor-like piece of iron by which the main tackle blocks are hung.
1862. Ansted, Channel Isl., II. ix. (ed. 2), 238. Small, *anchor-shaped calcareous plates.
1870. [See 3 above].
