anchorage

Etymology

anchor + -age

noun

1. (nautical) A harbor, river, or offshore area that can accommodate a ship at anchor, either for quarantine, queuing, or discharge.
2. (nautical) A fee charged for anchoring.
   Anchorage is five pounds a night outside the harbour.
3. That into which something is anchored or fastened.
   the anchorages of the Brooklyn Bridge
4. (medicine) The surgical fixation of prolapsed organs.
5. The act of anchoring, or the condition of lying at anchor.
   And yet 'twas by such braggart vaunts as these Thou broughtst thee to this woeful anchorage. 1866, Augusta Webster, transl., 'The Prometheus Bound of Æschylus, lines 1001–1002, page 66
6. The set of anchors belonging to a ship.
7. The retreat of a hermit, or anchorite.
8. (figurative) Something on which one may depend for security; ground of trust.