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
"It used to be quite different in the olden days when every woman was five foot six, and four men could easily have worked a frigate's capstan and raised the sheet anchor."
From Abb? Aubain and Mosaics by M?rim?e, Prosper
After getting the sheet anchor to the bows, and the broken one in-board, we weighed and made sail to windward, in search of a good anchorage.
From Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836 Volume I. - Proceedings of the First Expedition, 1826-1830 by Fitzroy, Robert
We then let go the sheet anchor and gave her two cables on that also, but she would not look at it.
From Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez. Vol II by Ross, John, Sir
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.
