sheet anchor

American  

noun

1. Nautical. a large anchor used only in cases of emergency.

2. a final reliance or resource, as when in danger.

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sheet anchor British  

noun

1. nautical a large strong anchor for use in emergency

2. a person or thing to be relied upon in an emergency

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Etymology

Origin of sheet anchor

First recorded in 1485–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sheet anchor

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

Anybody but Esther Tidditt, that is; she's down on him like a sheet anchor on a crab.

From Fair Harbor by Joseph Crosby Lincoln

She rode for about an hour, but then drove; the sheet anchor was now let go, and a whole cable wore away, and the ship rode for about two hours longer, when she drove again.

From Thrilling Narratives of Mutiny, Murder and Piracy A weird series of tales of shipwreck and disaster, from the earliest part of the century to the present time, with accounts of providential escapes and heart-rending fatalities. by Anonymous

He knew the ship had three masts and a sheet anchor.

From A Sailor of King George by A. Beckford Bevan