From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
foul anchor (plural foul anchors)
- (nautical) An anchor which has become entangled or caught up in something, or an image of this.
1978, Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea, Vintage, published 1999, page 13:One stone in particular attracts me. It bears a beautiful ‘foul anchor’ and the simple inscription: Dummy 1879-1918.
