1A heavy object attached to a cable or chain and used to moor a ship to the sea bottom, typically having a metal shank with a pair of curved, barbed flukes at one end.

1. 1.1 A person or thing that provides stability or confidence in an otherwise uncertain situation.
   〈喻〉给予安全感的人（或物）；顶梁柱
   the European Community is the economic anchor of the New Europe

   欧共体是新欧洲的经济支柱。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • We have declared that we see the Currency Board as a very important anchor of stability for the country's financial and economic system.
   • Obviously, Walker's idea needs an anchor at both ends, and today, for the first time in decades, both those anchors seem secure.
   • The Big Three anchors did provide a sense of rock-steady comfort.
   • Afghanistan's ancient roots and strong ties of kinship provide an anchor against progress, but also the means to cope when central authority has collapsed.
   • The end of it that was still in front of Ivan wrapped around his right arm once again, and the lance started to pull him towards Zas, using the ground as an anchor.
   • Authors are separated to encourage browsing, or placed together to provide a stable anchor.
   • I think he's not your typical anchor, in that he shows up in situations that other anchors don't.
   • He said this would help inform a consistent and coherent regional framework that could provide a further anchor for the initiatives that must be pursued.
   • The three vessels had been prepared to survive Hurricane Ivan by securing them to fixed anchors located in the bay.
   • The sonic trickery can get a little wearing, but there's always a heart-melting tune or a catchy chorus to provide an emotional anchor.
   • Because it could provide an anchor for part of downtown - the old town of York, no less - that really needs some help getting going again.
   • Nonetheless, the basic line from which the image evolved - and around which all its complexities revolve - provides a clarifying anchor.
   • The total effect was surprisingly focused and intimate, with Gabriel's confessional singing style providing an emotional anchor for the ever-shifting visuals.
   • His theses drawn from cultural and analytic vertices, provide anchors for the incomprehensible.
   • The metronome set to the macro beat will provide a rhythmic anchor for the student.
   • That analysis provided an anchor for negotiations.
   • In the midst of all these changes and uncertainties, the key role of leadership is to provide an anchor that can offer some degree of stability.
   • Once the frame is assembled and is set up in the desired spot, special tie-down anchors secure the frame to the dirt or lawn.
   • The post office is the anchor and provides the foot flow.
   • ‘I hope to be an anchor to bring the stability to look at the economic and political coverage of the paper,’ he said.

   Synonyms

   mainstay, cornerstone, bulwark, chief support, main source of stability/security, foundation, prop, linchpin
2. 1.2 A large and prestigious department store prominently sited in a new shopping centre.
   （置于新购物中心抢眼位置以吸引商贸的）中心百货店
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Developers Chartback are holding advanced talks with an unnamed retailer specialising in non-food household goods to secure a main anchor for the Rawson Quarter project.
   • I don't think we'll be seeing pride boutiques opening as anchor stores at any of the major malls quite yet.
   • The ‘power center’ retail area and anchor stores would go up in the middle and eastern part of the site.
   • In addition to the three anchor tenants, the site will also contain 50 retail units, multi-storey and underground parking and a six-screen cineplex.
   • It will see a 350,000 sq ft extension to the existing Frenchgate shopping centre, which is to have as its anchor retailer a new Debenham's department store.
   • The 65,000 sq ft Harvey Nichols store is the anchor tenant for the new fashion street The Walk, off Saint Andrew Square, which will have a total of 27 outlets.
   • ‘We are delighted to sign up Wilkinson as our anchor tenant for this prestigious development for Bradford,’ he said.
   • The centre piece and anchor store in Centrale, House of Fraser's arrival brings six years of planning and construction to fruition, and promises to bring shoppers flocking back to Croydon.
   • With Standard Life Assurance Company the main investment partner, the centre boasts more than 90 shops, including the anchor tenants.
   • Dunnes Stores will operate a supermarket and department store at the Scotch Hall complex, which will have 60 other shops and two further anchor tenants.
   • All major re-developments in the municipality, such as Majors Bay Rd and Five Dock have a supermarket chain as the anchor.
   • An unnamed supermarket will be the anchor tenant of the shopping complex, which is set to transform the commercial life of the town as its population expands.
   • A new town centre is promised for Southill, with the giant retail discount store Aldi as anchor tenant.
   • Although permission was granted last year for that development, work has yet to begin on the 14-acres site even though anchor tenant Woodies has already signed up.
   • Competition for anchor stores in shopping centres remains robust with Dunnes, Superquinn, Marks and Spencers and Tesco all hoping to expand their presence.
   • The closure will leave about 100 people without jobs and it will threaten the future of the entire shopping mall as the Friendly Grocer is the current anchor tenant.
   • Then recession hit and by the 90s the site was owned by Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's who chose CSC as a development partner and later became anchor tenants.
   • We reported in February that sources said the anchor department store could be one of several Kohl's Corp. stores that would open in the area.
   • Poon said that because the company is usually the anchor tenant at large shopping malls, rents are slightly lower than those charged for smaller retail companies.
   • In 1992, MBI landed a large mall project with multiple anchor tenants.

   Synonyms

   centre, focal point, central point, centre of attention, hub, pivot, nucleus, heart, cornerstone, linchpin, kingpin, bedrock, basis, backbone, cynosure
3. 1.3anchorsBritish informal The brakes of a car.
   〈英，非正式〉（汽车的）刹车
   this idiot in front slammed on his anchors at a crossing

   前面的这傻子在十字路口突然猛一刹车。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Drivers speed up between cameras and then slam the anchors on as they approach another camera.
   • It's not that the Jag's braking is poor because by any normal standards the XKR has an impressive set of anchors - it's just that the Aston's is exceptionally good.
   • Hard on the anchors into the esses - a quick and tight left/right/right - make sure you brake in a straight line or the back wheels will be overtaking the bonnet.
   • I had to stand on the anchors on a few occasions to avoid wiping a sizable chunk off the £99,300 car's front end.
   • Let's face it, with this much power it helps to have sturdy anchors in any case and everything in the Superformance is built with rugged durability and simple effectiveness in mind.

2North American An anchorman or anchorwoman.

在作了19年哥伦比亚广播公司新闻节目主持人后他不干了。

1Moor (a ship) to the sea bottom with an anchor.

船锚泊在岛的背风处。

1. 1.1 Secure firmly in position.
   牢牢固定住
   the tail is used as a hook with which the fish anchors itself to coral

   这鱼用尾巴钩住珊瑚。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The container of the line was anchored at a known point, and using the distances from that and references from the beach, Divers were able to mark depths and notes on a board with a grease pencil.
   • The problem was that both sets of posts have been firmly anchored in concrete for years and were immovable.
   • Thus, for a quantitative characterization it seems reasonable to assume that vesicles are anchored at certain positions and can only move in a restricted space.
   • All will keep playing but likely will be anchored at first base when they reach.
   • And yet, Don Quixote is firmly anchored in Spanish society.
   • The world today desperately needs a hope that cannot be disappointed - a hope that is anchored at a point beyond this world and its contingencies.
   • Even if the braces were adequately supported at mid span and were adequately anchored at the base and at the wall, the braces could still fail, depending on the strength of the wind gust.
   • I found this a little hard to believe until, less than half an hour later, we were anchored at the cavern, about to dive.
   • Each magazine is firmly anchored at bottom and rear.
   • Sylvain Wiltord says he plays from the heart and does not want to be anchored to a particular position within a team.
   • An equally clear-headed production would have anchored both more firmly, but Guedo directs with a heavy hand, and his cumbersome sets soften the play's punch.
   • While we were still anchored at Cooktown, we experienced a second coincidental echo between the voyages of past and present.
   • Chief culprit in dental decay is the bacterium Streptococcus mutans, which anchors itself to the tooth and produces lactic acid as a metabolic byproduct.
   • Danny Dichio chipped in with two West Brom goals to keep County firmly anchored at the foot of the table.
   • Both will be pushing hard for first team slots this week when Ilkley entertain Northallerton who are firmly anchored at the bottom of Yorkshire League Two.
   • The back of the truck is anchored firmly to the asphalt by a ton of documents, storage media, books, computers, and peripheral devices.
   • The patient is positioned and anchored securely to prevent injury and movement when the surgical hip is reamed and the surgical leg is manipulated throughout the procedure.
   • Warrington have won just one Super League game and are currently anchored at the foot of the table facing relegation.
   • The sport is firmly anchored in northern Europe, booming in eastern Europe, popular in Australia and South Africa, and widespread in North America.
   • Gilkey was anchored securely to his position in the gully with two ice axes while the others moved to the other side of a rocky rib to set up a tent.

   Synonyms

   secure, fasten, attach, make fast, connect, bind, affix, fix
2. 1.2 Provide with a firm basis or foundation.
   扎根
   it is important that policy be anchored to some acceptable theoretical basis

   把政策建立在某种可接受的理论基础上是很重要的。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • This is the position that anchors them morally, as all countries justifiably attempt to protect their ways of life.
   • He does not press ambitious claims, and each of his opinions is firmly anchored in the law.
   • The book also tells one a lot about Herge, who was a stickler for accuracy and detail and how he ensured that each of the stories was firmly anchored in fact.
   • The program in Charlottesville was anchored on classical foundations.
   • For while Blair made, and makes, a cogent, cerebral case for his New Labourism, Gordon Brown had the previous day approached the same task - anchoring current policy in old time ideals - via a different route.
   • However these ratings were achieved with families performing a uniform task that served to anchor the interaction and provide cues for rater judgment.
   • Chisholm says he is firmly anchored in publicly funded healthcare, and brandishes a copy of the Wanless Report as his New Year holiday reading.
   • Councilman Joseph VanLoan says Kimmell understands the city's vision for the future, one that's firmly anchored in the past.
   • If a government goes out and anchors its purchasing policy on open source, it will, in effect, hurt its local commercial software community, Sharp claimed.
   • In short, a domestic policy of austerity would be anchored in a supranational regime, a regime designed to provide ‘stability’.
   • Keith only rarely bothers, and most of his recent songs are firmly anchored in the folk or classical tradition.
   • From early on it became clear to close observers of the EU that the role and rule of law were going to be critical in anchoring EU policy regimes.
   • And, on the other hand, the dollar pegs anchored their domestic monetary policies.
   • Other observers have been equally firm in anchoring American Jewish writing to the immigrant experience, a point brought home by Irving Howe in a famous attack on Philip Roth in Commentary in 1972.
   • With a party anchored in a strong foundation, the next chore would be to sell Government programmes and what the New Deal has achieved in the past.
   • You want a man who is firmly anchored in his identity in Christ.
   • Gold anchored national economies, providing the basis for their currencies.
   • Davis jettisons all pretensions to nostalgic Englishness and anchors the works firmly in the European post-Romantic tradition.
   • Today, the currency and export policy of China is anchored around its peg to the dollar.
   • Patenting in general increased over this period, and specifically, patenting anchored in existing firm knowledge also increased.

   Synonyms

   stick, lodge, implant, embed

2North American Present and coordinate (a television or radio programme)

她在20世纪80年代早期主持过电视纪实系列片。