anchor watch

Save This Word!

noun Nautical.

a deck watch maintained by the crew of a ship at anchor.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of anchor watch

First recorded in 1875–80

If the vessel was at anchor in a roadstead, he had to keep his two-hour anchor watch the same as the rest of the crew.
Windjammers and Sea Tramps|Walter Runciman
He sent the hands below at ten o'clock, saying he would keep the anchor watch himself.
The Vultures|Henry Seton Merriman
The ship was then moored with a kedge astern, sails furled, and all hands retired to rest, except an anchor watch.
A Narrative of the Mutiny, on Board the Ship Globe, of Nantucket, in the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 1824|William Lay
Then the forecastle hands cast lots who should keep the first anchor watch.
The Shellback's Progress|Walter Runciman

I had the honour of keeping an anchor-watch in company with a grum old Swede, as we lay in the Hudson.
Afloat And Ashore|James Fenimore Cooper