anchorman

American  

[ang-ker-man, -muhn] / ˈæŋ kərˌmæn, -mən /

noun

plural

anchormen

1. Sports. anchor.

2. Radio and Television. anchor.

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anchorman British  

/ ˈæŋkəmæn /

noun

1. sport the last person in a team to compete, esp in a relay race

2. Also called: anchor.   presenter.  (in broadcasting) a person in a central studio who links up and maintains contact with various outside camera units, reporters, etc

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Gender

Is anchorman gender-neutral? See -man.

Etymology

Origin of anchorman

First recorded in 1910–15 anchorman for def. 1; 1955–60 anchorman for def. 2; anchor + -man

Explanation

An anchorman is a television news reporter. An anchorman typically reports from a news studio, reading the news from behind a desk. You can use the words anchorman and anchorwoman to talk about studio-based TV newscasters, but it's becoming more common to use one word to refer to either a man or a woman. News anchor or just anchor are increasingly common names for an anchorman. In the early 20th century, an anchorman was "the last man on a tug-of-war team," but by 1958 the word described a news presenter on TV or radio.

Example Sentences

A brash young anchorman for the ABC affiliate, Michael Tuck, took on the newspaper in an editorial segment.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 20, 2024

“Here was a woman who had just done something monumental and this was all they had to say,” Jess Marlow, a local anchorman, told The Sacramento Bee in 1990.

From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2024

The Los Angeles Times called it an "oppressively self-important talk hour starring a Cincinnati news anchorman and former mayor".

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2023

Baxter was the station's anchorman, and his incompetence doomed the "Six O'Clock News" to low ratings.

From Salon • Jan. 23, 2023

Then, brimming with confidence, he overreached by taking on both the US Army and the most popular television news anchorman in the country, Edward R. Murrow.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler