an|ar|chy /æ nə r ki/ N‑UNCOUNT If you describe a situation as anarchy , you mean that nobody seems to be paying any attention to rules or laws. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ Civil war and famine sent the nation plunging into anarchy.
anath|ema /ənæ θəmə/ N‑UNCOUNT If something is anathema to you, you strongly dislike it. □ [+ to ] Violence was anathema to them.
ana|tomi|cal /æ nətɒ m I k ə l/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Anatomical means relating to the structure of the bodies of people and animals. □ …minute anatomical differences between insects. ● ana|tomi|cal|ly /æ nətɒ m I kli/ ADV □ I need my pictures to be anatomically correct.
anato|mist /ənæ təm I st/ (anatomists ) N‑COUNT An anatomist is an expert in anatomy.
anato|mize /ənæ təma I z/ (anatomizes , anatomizing , anatomized ) in BRIT, also use anatomise VERB If you anatomise a subject or an issue, you examine it in great detail. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] The magazine is devoted to anatomizing the inadequacies of liberalism.
anato|my /ənæ təmi/ (anatomies )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Anatomy is the study of the structure of the bodies of people or animals.
2 N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] You can refer to your body as your anatomy . [HUMOROUS ]
3 N‑COUNT [oft with poss] An animal's anatomy is the structure of its body.
SUFFIX -ance
forms nouns that refer to a particular action, state, or quality. For example, brilliance is the state or quality of being brilliant, and appearance is the action of appearing.
an|ces|tor /æ nsestə r / (ancestors )
1 N‑COUNT [usu pl, with poss] Your ancestors are the people from whom you are descended. □ …our daily lives, so different from those of our ancestors. □ He could trace his ancestors back seven hundred years.
2 N‑COUNT An ancestor of something modern is an earlier thing from which it developed. □ [+ of ] The direct ancestor of the modern cat was the Kaffir cat of ancient Egypt.
an|ces|tral /ænse strəl/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] You use ancestral to refer to a person's family in former times, especially when the family is important and has property or land which they have had for a long time. □ …the family's ancestral home in southern Germany.
an|ces|try /æ nsestri/ (ancestries ) N‑COUNT Your ancestry is the fact that you are descended from certain people. □ …a family who could trace their ancestry back to the sixteenth century.
an|chor /æ ŋkə r / (anchors , anchoring , anchored )
1 N‑COUNT An anchor is a heavy hooked object that is dropped from a boat into the water at the end of a chain in order to make the boat stay in one place.
2 VERB When a boat anchors or when you anchor it, its anchor is dropped into the water in order to make it stay in one place. □ [V ] We could anchor off the pier. □ [V n] They anchored the boat.
3 VERB If you anchor an object somewhere, you fix it to something to prevent it moving from that place. □ [V n prep] The roots anchor the plant in the earth. □ [V -ed] The child seat belt was not properly anchored to the car.
4 VERB The person who anchors a television or radio programme, especially a news programme, is the person who presents it and acts as a link between interviews and reports which come from other places or studios. [mainly AM ] □ [V n] Viewers saw him anchoring a five-minute summary of regional news. □ [V -ed] …a series of reports on the Vietnam War, anchored by Mr. Cronkite.
5 N‑COUNT The anchor on a television or radio programme, especially a news programme, is the person who presents it. [mainly AM ] □ He was the anchor of the 15-minute evening newscast.
6 PHRASE If a boat is at anchor , it is floating in a particular place and is prevented from moving by its anchor.
an|chor|age /æ ŋkər I dʒ/ (anchorages ) N‑VAR An anchorage is a place where a boat can anchor safely. □ The nearest safe anchorage was in Halifax, Nova Scotia. □ The vessel yesterday reached anchorage off Dubai.
anchor|man /æ ŋkə r mæn/ (anchormen ) also anchor man N‑COUNT The anchorman on a television or radio programme, especially a news programme, is the person who presents it.
anchor|woman /æ ŋkə r wʊmən/ (anchorwomen ) N‑COUNT The anchorwoman on a television or radio programme, especially a news programme, is the woman who presents it.
an|cho|vy /æ ntʃəvi, [AM ] -tʃoʊvi/ (anchovies ) N‑VAR [oft N n] Anchovies are small fish that live in the sea. They are often eaten salted.
an|cien re|gime /ɑː nsjɒn re I ʒiː m/
1 N‑SING The ancien regime was the political and social system in France before the revolution of 1789.
2 N‑SING If a country has had the same political system for a long time and you disapprove of it, you can refer to it as the ancien regime . [DISAPPROVAL ]
an|cient ◆◇◇ /e I nʃənt/
1 ADJ [ADJ n] Ancient means belonging to the distant past, especially to the period in history before the end of the Roman Empire. □ They believed ancient Greece and Rome were vital sources of learning. ● an|cient|ly ADV □ Salisbury Plain was known anciently as Ellendune.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Ancient means very old, or having existed for a long time. □ …ancient Jewish tradition.
a n|cient hi s|to|ry N‑UNCOUNT Ancient history is the history of ancient civilizations, especially Greece and Rome.