Anchor vs. Rudder — What's the Difference?

An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα (ankȳra).Anchors can either be temporary or permanent.

A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other conveyance that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane.

A heavy object attached to a cable or chain and used to moor a ship to the sea bottom, typically having a metal shank with a pair of curved, barbed flukes at one end

A vertically hinged plate of metal, fiberglass, or wood mounted at the stern of a ship or boat for directing its course.

An anchorman or anchorwoman

A similar structure at the tail of an aircraft, used for effecting horizontal changes in course.

Moor (a ship) to the sea bottom with an anchor

A controlling agent or influence over direction; a guide.

Present and coordinate (a television or radio programme)

(nautical) An underwater vane used to steer a vessel. The rudder is controlled by means of a wheel, tiller or other apparatus (modern vessels can be controlled even with a joystick or an autopilot).

(Nautical) A heavy object attached to a vessel by a cable, rope, or chain and dropped into the water to keep the vessel in place either by its weight or by its flukes, which grip the bottom.

(aeronautics) A control surface on the vertical stabilizer of a fixed-wing aircraft or an autogyro. On some craft, the entire vertical stabilizer comprises the rudder. The rudder is controlled by foot-operated control pedals.

A rigid point of support, as for securing a rope.

A riddle or sieve.

A source of security or stability.

(figurative) That which resembles a rudder as a guide or governor; that which guides or governs the course.

An athlete, usually the strongest member of a team, who performs the last stage of a relay race or other competition.

A riddle or sieve.

The person at the end of a tug-of-war team.

The mechanical appliance by means of which a vessel is guided or steered when in motion. It is a broad and flat blade made of wood or iron, with a long shank, and is fastened in an upright position, usually by one edge, to the sternpost of the vessel in such a way that it can be turned from side to side in the water by means of a tiller, wheel, or other attachment.

An anchorperson.

Fig.: That which resembles a rudder as a guide or governor; that which guides or governs the course.

To secure (a vessel) with an anchor.

In an aircraft, a surface the function of which is to exert a turning moment about an axis of the craft.

To secure with a fastener or similar device

A hinged vertical airfoil mounted at the tail of an aircraft and used to make horizontal course changes

To cause to be fixed in place; fix or immobilize

(nautical) steering mechanism consisting of a hinged vertical plate mounted at the stern of a vessel

To cause to feel attached or secure

To provide a basis for; establish or found

(Sports) To serve as an anchor for (a team or competition)

To narrate or coordinate (a newscast).

To provide or form an anchor store for

(Nautical) To drop anchor or lie at anchor.

(nautical) A tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement.

(nautical) An iron device so shaped as to grip the bottom and hold a vessel at her berth by the chain or rope attached. (FM 55-501).

(nautical) The combined anchoring gear (anchor, rode, bill/peak and fittings such as bitts, cat, and windlass.)

(heraldry) Representation of the nautical tool, used as a heraldic charge.

Any instrument serving a purpose like that of a ship's anchor, such as an arrangement of timber to hold a dam fast; a device to hold the end of a bridge cable etc.; or a device used in metalworking to hold the core of a mould in place.

(Internet) A marked point in a document that can be the target of a hyperlink.

(television) An anchorman or anchorwoman.

(athletics) The final runner in a relay race.

(archery) A point that is touched by the draw hand or string when the bow is fully drawn and ready to shoot.

(economics) A superstore or other facility that serves as a focus to bring customers into an area.

(figurative) That which gives stability or security.

(architecture) A metal tie holding adjoining parts of a building together.

(US) A screw anchor.

(architecture) Carved work, somewhat resembling an anchor or arrowhead; part of the ornaments of certain mouldings. It is seen in the echinus, or egg-and-anchor (called also egg-and-dart, egg-and-tongue) ornament.

One of the anchor-shaped spicules of certain sponges.

One of the calcareous spinules of certain holothurians, as in species of Synapta.

(cartomancy) The thirty-fifth Lenormand card.

(obsolete) An anchorite or anchoress.

(slang) The brake of a vehicle.

(soccer) A defensive player, especially one who counters the opposition's best offensive player.

(climbing) A device for attaching a climber at the top of a climb, such as a chain or ring or a natural feature.

Alternative form of anker

To connect an object, especially a ship or a boat, to a fixed point.

To cast anchor; to come to anchor.

To stop; to fix or rest.

To provide emotional stability for a person in distress.

To perform as an anchorman or anchorwoman.

To be stuck; to be unable to move away from a position.

A iron instrument which is attached to a ship by a cable (rope or chain), and which, being cast overboard, lays hold of the earth by a fluke or hook and thus retains the ship in a particular station.

Any instrument or contrivance serving a purpose like that of a ship's anchor, as an arrangement of timber to hold a dam fast; a contrivance to hold the end of a bridge cable, or other similar part; a contrivance used by founders to hold the core of a mold in place.

Fig.: That which gives stability or security; that on which we place dependence for safety.

An emblem of hope.

A metal tie holding adjoining parts of a building together.

One of the anchor-shaped spicules of certain sponges; also, one of the calcareous spinules of certain Holothurians, as in species of Synapta.

An achorman, anchorwoman, or anchorperson.

An anchoret.

To place at anchor; to secure by an anchor; as, to anchor a ship.

To fix or fasten; to fix in a stable condition; as, to anchor the cables of a suspension bridge.

To cast anchor; to come to anchor; as, our ship (or the captain) anchored in the stream.

To stop; to fix or rest.

A mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving

A central cohesive source of support and stability;

A television reporter who coordinates a broadcast to which several correspondents contribute

Fix firmly and stably;

Secure a vessel with an anchor;