Boat Anchor
Noun · Slang & Abbreviations
Definitions
A system, tool, or dependency seen as heavy, obsolete, and mostly useful for dragging everything else down. In engineering slang, calling something a boat anchor usually means it imposes more burden than value.
In plain English: Something old and heavy that mostly acts as a burden.
Example: "That reporting service had become a boat anchor because every release was delayed by compatibility work for a feature only one customer still used."