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
As a last resort, Porter let go his sheet anchor, which brought the head of his vessel round so that his broadsides again bore.
From The Second War with England, Vol. 2 of 2 by Headley, Joel Tyler
Gwen's one sheet anchor of hope, to which she clung in a kind of desperation, was the thought of the postal orders that Grannie and Aunt Violet almost invariably sent at Christmas.
From The Youngest Girl in the Fifth A School Story by Davis, Stanley
Feeble as he had been, yet he had always earned something, and had indeed been their sheet anchor.
From Ditte: Girl Alive! by Nexø, Martin Andersen
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.
