sheet anchor
Americannoun
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Nautical. a large anchor used only in cases of emergency.
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a final reliance or resource, as when in danger.
noun
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nautical a large strong anchor for use in emergency
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a person or thing to be relied upon in an emergency
Etymology
Origin of sheet anchor
First recorded in 1485–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet, Jane — Tomalin calls her “the true heroine of this story” — remained the sheet anchor of his life, as well as his typist.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 2, 2021
In summer he manages his two dairy farms, calls them "a sheet anchor against inflation."
From Time Magazine Archive
Feeble as he had been, yet he had always earned something, and had indeed been their sheet anchor.
From Ditte: Girl Alive! by Martin Andersen Nexø
The sheet anchor was let go, and alone now kept the brig from destruction.
From The Three Midshipmen by Victor Prout
Evergreens are the sheet anchor, relieved with a few deciduous shrubs grouped amongst them.
From Trees and Shrubs for English Gardens by Ernest Thomas Cook
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
