Noun

(en noun)

A place to moor a vessel

The act of securing a vessel with a cable or anchor etc.

(figuratively) Something to which one adheres to, or the means that help one maintain a stable position and keep one's identity - moral, intellectual, political, etc.

*1890 , John George Nicolay and John Hay,

*:The party of pro-slavery reaction was for the moment in the ascendant; and as by an irresistible impulse, the Supreme Court of the United States was swept from its hitherto impartial judicial moorings into the dangerous seas of polities.

*1898 , "

*:Friendship from its moorings strays,

*:Love binds fast together;

*:Friendship is for balmy days,

*:Love for stormy weather.

Noun

(en noun)

(nautical) A vertical cleated drum or cylinder, revolving on an upright spindle, and surmounted by a drumhead with sockets for bars or levers. It is much used, especially on shipboard, for moving or raising heavy weights or exerting great power by traction upon a rope or cable, passing around the drum. It is operated either by steam power or by a number of men walking around the capstan, each pushing on the end of a lever fixed in its socket.

*

, title=Vagabonding Under Sail , publisher=Hastings House (New York) , page=211 , passage=We toiled over the capstan , and late in the afternoon slipped out of the harbour.}}

*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)

, title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}

(electronics) A rotating spindle used to move recording tape through the mechanism of a tape recorder.