Nearby Words
noun
1.
a series of objects connected one after the other, usually in the form of a series of metal rings passing through one another, used either for various purposes requiring a flexible tie with high tensile strength, as for hauling, supporting, or confining, or in various ornamental and decorative forms.
2.
Often, chains. something that binds or restrains; bond: the chain of timidity; the chains of loyalty.
3.
chains,
a.
shackles or fetters: to place a prisoner in chains.
b.
bondage; servitude: to live one's life in chains.
c.
Nautical. (in a sailing vessel) the area outboard at the foot of the shrouds of a mast: the customary position of the leadsman in taking soundings.
4.
a series of things connected or following in succession: a chain of events.
5.
EXPANDa range of mountains.
6.
a number of similar establishments, as banks, theaters, or hotels, under one ownership or management.
7.
Chemistry. two or more atoms of the same element, usually carbon, attached as in a chain. Compare ring1 (def. 17).
8.
Surveying, Civil Engineering.
a.
a distance-measuring device consisting of a chain of 100 links of equal length, having a total length either of 66 feet (20 meters) (Gunter's chain or surveyor's chain) or of 100 feet (30 meters) (engineer's chain).
b.
a unit of length equal to either of these.
c.
a graduated steel tape used for distance measurements. Abbreviation: ch
9.
Mathematics. totally ordered set.
10.
COLLAPSEFootball. a chain 10 yards (9 meters) in length for determining whether a first down has been earned.
verb (used with object)
11.
to fasten or secure with a chain: to chain a dog to a post.
12.
to confine or restrain: His work chained him to his desk.
13.
Surveying. to measure (a distance on the ground) with a chain or tape.
14.
Computers. to link (related items, as records in a file or portions of a program) together, especially so that items can be run in sequence.
15.
to make (a chain stitch or series of chain stitches), as in crocheting.
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Chained
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
verb (used without object)
Idioms16.
to form or make a chain.
17.
drag the chain, Australian Slang. to lag behind or shirk one's fair share of work.
18.
in the chains, Nautical. standing outboard on the channels or in some similar place to heave the lead to take soundings.
Related forms
chain·less, adjective
chain·like, adjective
in·ter·chain, verb (used with object)
un·chained, adjective
Synonyms
4. sequence, succession, train, set.
4. sequence, succession, train, set.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To chained
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
chain
c.1300, from O.Fr. chaeine, from L. catena "chain," from PIE base *kat- "to twist, twine." The verb is attested from late 14c. Chain of stores is Amer.Eng., 1846. Chain letter first recorded 1906.
EXPAND"In 1896, Miss Audrey Griffin, of Hurstville, New South Wales initiated a 'chain letter' with the object of obtaining 1,000,000 used postage stamps." ["Daily Chronicle," July 27, 1906]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
Chain (chān), Ernst Boris. 1906-1979.
German-born British biochemist. He shared a 1945 Nobel Prize for isolating and purifying penicillin, discovered in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
| Chain, Sir Ernst Boris 1906-1979.
German-born British bacteriologist who, with Howard Florey, developed and purified penicillin in 1939. For this work, they shared a 1945 Nobel Prize with Alexander Fleming, who first discovered the antibiotic in 1928. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
chain(-smoke) definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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