weigh anchor
Hoist for departure
To weigh anchor is to raise a ship's anchor from the seabed in preparation for departure.
The phrase appears in nautical contexts and figuratively to mean setting out or getting underway: We weighed anchor at dawn and headed south.
Despite the spelling, weigh here comes from an old sense meaning to heave or lift, not to measure weight.
- cast offRelease or discard
- heaveForceful lift or throw
- unmoorRelease from anchorage
- windlassCranked cylinder for lifting
- sailShip's wind-catching fabric
capstan · shove off · put to sea · get underway · ship out · embark · departure · all hands · ship · hawser · aweigh · winch · hoist · chain · wharf · navigate · tack · landing
- nautical termsahoy, afloat, aye aye, aye-aye, becalmed
- Nautical Idiomsbatten down the hatches, all hands on deck, smooth sailing, three sheets to the wind, in the same boat
- pirate talkahoy, arr, argh, aye, aye aye
nautical departure vs. arrival/securing
weigh anchordrop anchor
Secure a vessel
cast anchor · anchor · moor · tie up · make fast
weigh, anchor, weight, weighs, weighed, weighing, weighty, weightless, weightlessness