Adjacent Words

waist anchor definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: spare anchor for use in emergency [syn: sheet anchor, waist anchor]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Waist Waist, n. [OE. wast; originally, growth, akin to AS. weaxan to grow; cf. AS. w[ae]stm growth. See Wax to grow.] 1. That part of the human body which is immediately below the ribs or thorax; the small part of the body between the thorax and hips. --Chaucer. I am in the waist two yards about. --Shak. 2. Hence, the middle part of other bodies; especially (Naut.), that part of a vessel's deck, bulwarks, etc., which is between the quarter-deck and the forecastle; the middle part of the ship. 3. A garment, or part of a garment, which covers the body from the neck or shoulders to the waist line. 4. A girdle or belt for the waist. [Obs.] --Shak. Waist anchor. See Sheet anchor, 1, in the Vocabulary.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sheet anchor Sheet" an"chor [OE. scheten to shoot, AS. sce['o]tan; cf. OE. shoot anchor. See Shoot, v. t.] 1. (Naut.) A large anchor stowed on shores outside the waist of a vessel; -- called also waist anchor. See the Note under Anchor. 2. Anything regarded as a sure support or dependence in danger; the best hope or refuge.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Anchor An"chor ([a^][ng]"k[~e]r), n. [OE. anker, AS. ancor, oncer, L. ancora, sometimes spelt anchora, fr. Gr. 'a`gkyra, akin to E. angle: cf. F. ancre. See Angle, n.] 1. A iron instrument which is attached to a ship by a cable (rope or chain), and which, being cast overboard, lays hold of the earth by a fluke or hook and thus retains the ship in a particular station. Note: The common anchor consists of a straight bar called a shank, having at one end a transverse bar called a stock, above which is a ring for the cable, and at the other end the crown, from which branch out two or more arms with flukes, forming with the shank a suitable angle to enter the ground. Note: Formerly the largest and strongest anchor was the sheet anchor (hence, Fig., best hope or last refuge), called also waist anchor. Now the bower and the sheet anchor are usually alike. Then came the best bower and the small bower (so called from being carried on the bows). The stream anchor is one fourth the weight of the bower anchor. Kedges or kedge anchors are light anchors used in warping. 2. Any instrument or contrivance serving a purpose like that of a ship's anchor, as an arrangement of timber to hold a dam fast; a contrivance to hold the end of a bridge cable, or other similar part; a contrivance used by founders to hold the core of a mold in place. 3. Fig.: That which gives stability or security; that on which we place dependence for safety. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul. --Heb. vi. 19. 4. (Her.) An emblem of hope. 5. (Arch.) (a) A metal tie holding adjoining parts of a building together. (b) Carved work, somewhat resembling an anchor or arrowhead; -- a part of the ornaments of certain moldings. It is seen in the echinus, or egg-and-anchor (called also egg-and-dart, egg-and-tongue) ornament. 6. (Zo["o]l.) One of the anchor-shaped spicules of certain sponges; also, one of the calcareous spinules of certain Holothurians, as in species of Synapta. Anchor ice. See under Ice. Anchor ring. (Math.) Same as Annulus, 2 (b). Anchor stock (Naut.), the crossbar at the top of the shank at right angles to the arms. The anchor comes home, when it drags over the bottom as the ship drifts. Foul anchor, the anchor when it hooks, or is entangled with, another anchor, or with a cable or wreck, or when the slack cable entangled. The anchor is acockbill, when it is suspended perpendicularly from the cathead, ready to be let go. The anchor is apeak, when the cable is drawn in do tight as to bring to ship directly over it. The anchor is atrip, or aweigh, when it is lifted out of the ground. The anchor is awash, when it is hove up to the surface of the water. At anchor, anchored. To back an anchor, to increase the holding power by laying down a small anchor ahead of that by which the ship rides, with the cable fastened to the crown of the latter to prevent its coming home. To cast anchor, to drop or let go an anchor to keep a ship at rest. To cat the anchor, to hoist the anchor to the cathead and pass the ring-stopper. To fish the anchor, to hoist the flukes to their resting place (called the bill-boards), and pass the shank painter. To weigh anchor, to heave or raise the anchor so as to sail away.