What is "stream anchor"

Stream \Stream\ (str[=e]m), n. [AS. stre['a]m; akin to OFries. str[=a]m, OS. str[=o]m, D. stroom, G. strom, OHG. stroum, str[=u]m, Dan. & Sw. str["o]m, Icel. straumr, Ir. sroth, Lith. srove, Russ. struia, Gr. "ry`sis a flowing, "rei^n to flow, Skr. sru. [root]174. Cf. Catarrh, Diarrhea, Rheum, Rhythm.]

1. A current of water or other fluid; a liquid flowing continuously in a line or course, either on the earth, as a river, brook, etc., or from a vessel, reservoir, or fountain; specifically, any course of running water; as, many streams are blended in the Mississippi; gas and steam came from the earth in streams; a stream of molten lead from a furnace; a stream of lava from a volcano.

2. A beam or ray of light. ``Sun streams.''
   --Chaucer.

3. Anything issuing or moving with continued succession of parts; as, a stream of words; a stream of sand. ``The stream of beneficence.''
   --Atterbury. ``The stream of emigration.''
   --Macaulay.

4. A continued current or course; as, a stream of weather. ``The very stream of his life.''
   --Shak.

5. Current; drift; tendency; series of tending or moving causes; as, the stream of opinions or manners.

   Gulf stream. See under Gulf.

   Stream anchor, Stream cable. (Naut.) See under Anchor, and Cable.

   Stream ice, blocks of ice floating in a mass together in some definite direction.

   Stream tin, particles or masses of tin ore found in alluvial ground; -- so called because a stream of water is the principal agent used in separating the ore from the sand and gravel.

   Stream works (Cornish Mining), a place where an alluvial deposit of tin ore is worked.
   --Ure.

   To float with the stream, figuratively, to drift with the current of opinion, custom, etc., so as not to oppose or check it.

   Syn: Current; flow; rush; tide; course.

   Usage: Stream, Current. These words are often properly interchangeable; but stream is the broader word, denoting a prevailing onward course. The stream of the Mississippi rolls steadily on to the Gulf of Mexico, but there are reflex currents in it which run for a while in a contrary direction.