What does anchor mean?
Word: Anchor
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Anchor means a heavy metal hook on a chain, dropped from a ship to the sea floor to stop it drifting. A person who presents a TV news show is also called an anchor.
How do you spell anchor?
Syllables: an - chor
Tricky part: The k sound is written ch, as in school and chemist.
Watch out for: ankor, ankhor
Memory tip: The ch in anchor says k, just as it does in school and echo.
Idioms and Phrases
- drop anchor: To stop a ship by lowering its anchor, or to stop and settle in a place. Example: "The fishing boat dropped anchor near the island for the night."
Anchor in a sentence
Example 1: The sailors pulled up the anchor and set sail.
Example 2: A rusty anchor lay on the beach at Goa.
Example 3: A ship needs an anchor so the waves do not carry it away.
Fun Fact
A modern anchor holds a ship mainly by digging into the sea floor, not only by its weight.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The fishermen lowered the ancher before the storm reached the harbour.
a) fishermen
b) harbour
c) storm
d) ancher
Show answer
d) ancher. Anchor ends in or, like doctor and sailor.
Word Makeup
Choose the suffix that completes the word:
anchor
a) age
b) adge
c) aje
d) ige
Show answer
a) age. A sheltered spot where ships can drop anchor is an anchorage, ending like package and village.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) captin
b) yatch
c) anchor
d) harbur
Show answer
c) anchor. Yacht is a famous trap, with its c and h before the t. Harbour and captain have each lost a letter too, so anchor stands alone.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
annchor
a) a
b) n
c) c
d) h
Show answer
b) n. Anchor has a single n, straight after the a.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why does a ship drop its anchor?
a) to turn on its lights
b) to catch more fish
c) to go faster
d) to stay in one place
Show answer
d) to stay in one place
2. What does the anchor on a TV news show do?
a) sells the adverts
b) reads the news on air
c) repairs the cameras
d) draws the weather maps
Show answer
b) reads the news on air
