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View synonyms for sea anchor

sea anchor

noun

, Nautical.
  1. any of various devices, as a drogue, that have great resistance to being pulled through the water and are dropped forward of a vessel at the end of a cable to hold the bow into the wind or sea during a storm.


sea anchor

noun

  1. nautical any device, such as a bucket or canvas funnel, dragged in the water to keep a vessel heading into the wind or reduce drifting
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sea anchor1

First recorded in 1760–70
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Example Sentences

Using sea anchors, she ensured that those buoys drifted with the surface currents, free from the disruptive influence of wind or waves.

As darkness fell on the ocean, the three boats tied themselves together, and the Docker put out a sea anchor to keep them turned up into the wind.

It was a six-man orange life raft with a sea anchor inside and no visible marine growth or markings.

“In the worst storms, we put out a sea anchor,” essentially a parachute; the currents fill up the parachute, and basically hold the boat in place.

Ultimately, he said, a net can so impede the flow of water it acts like a sea anchor — and even a wall.

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