chain

[ cheyn ]
See synonyms for chain on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. chains,

    • shackles or fetters: to place a prisoner in chains.

    • bondage; servitude: to live one's life in chains.

    • 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.

  2. a series of things connected or following in succession: a chain of events.

  3. a range of mountains.

  4. a number of similar establishments, as banks, theaters, or hotels, under one ownership or management.

  5. Chemistry. two or more atoms of the same element, usually carbon, attached as in a chain.: Compare ring1 (def. 17).

  6. Surveying, Civil Engineering.

    • 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 ).

    • a unit of length equal to either of these.

    • a graduated steel tape used for distance measurements. Abbreviation: ch

  7. Mathematics. totally ordered set.

  8. Football. a chain 10 yards (9 meters) in length for determining whether a first down has been earned.

verb (used with object)
  1. to fasten or secure with a chain: to chain a dog to a post.

  2. to confine or restrain: His work chained him to his desk.

  1. Surveying. to measure (a distance on the ground) with a chain or tape.

  2. 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.

  3. to make (a chain stitch or series of chain stitches), as in crocheting.

verb (used without object)
  1. to form or make a chain.

Idioms about chain

  1. drag the chain, Australian Slang. to lag behind or shirk one's fair share of work.

  2. in the chains, Nautical. standing outboard on the channels or in some similar place to heave the lead to take soundings.

Origin of chain

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English chayne, from Old French chaeine, from Latin catēna “fetter”; see catena

Other words for chain

Other words from chain

  • chainless, adjective
  • chainlike, adjective
  • in·ter·chain, verb (used with object)
  • un·chained, adjective

Other definitions for Chain (2 of 2)

Chain
[ cheyn ]

noun
  1. Sir Ernst Boris [urnst, ernst], /ɜrnst, ɛrnst/, 1906–79, English biochemist, born in Germany: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1945.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chain in a sentence

  • It was new, chainless, with as little as possible to catch in hurried riding, and in every way the best of its kind.

    Freckles | Gene Stratton-Porter
  • Why will parents thus attempt to coerce the chainless affections?

    The Young Maiden | A. B. (Artemas Bowers) Muzzey
  • Behold the sea-brine leapingHigh in the murky air; List to the tempest sweepingIn chainless fury there.

    The Liberty Minstrel | George W. Clark
  • Then would re-open the steady deep boom of the rain, and the stern rushing of the chainless wind.

  • We need free bodies and free minds—free labor and free thought—chainless hands, and fetterless brains.

British Dictionary definitions for chain (1 of 2)

chain

/ (tʃeɪn) /


noun
  1. a flexible length of metal links, used for confining, connecting, pulling, etc, or in jewellery

  2. (usually plural) anything that confines, fetters, or restrains: the chains of poverty

  1. Also called: snow chains (usually plural) a set of metal links that fit over the tyre of a motor vehicle to increase traction and reduce skidding on an icy surface

    • a number of establishments such as hotels, shops, etc, having the same owner or management

    • (as modifier): a chain store

  2. a series of related or connected facts, events, etc

  3. a series of deals in which each depends on a purchaser selling before being able to buy

  4. (of reasoning) a sequence of arguments each of which takes the conclusion of the preceding as a premise: See (as an example) sorites

  5. Also called: Gunter's chain a unit of length equal to 22 yards

  6. Also called: engineer's chain a unit of length equal to 100 feet

  7. chem two or more atoms or groups bonded together so that the configuration of the resulting molecule, ion, or radical resembles a chain: See also open chain, ring 1 (def. 18)

  8. geography a series of natural features, esp approximately parallel mountain ranges

  9. off the chain Australian and NZ informal free from responsibility

  10. jerk someone's chain or yank someone's chain informal to tease, mislead, or harass someone

verb
  1. surveying to measure with a chain or tape

  2. (tr often foll by up) to confine, tie, or make fast with or as if with a chain

  1. to sew using chain stitch

Origin of chain

1
C13: from Old French chaine, ultimately from Latin; see catena

British Dictionary definitions for Chain (2 of 2)

Chain

/ (tʃeɪn) /


noun
  1. Sir Ernst Boris. 1906–79, British biochemist, born in Germany: purified and adapted penicillin for clinical use; with Fleming and Florey shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1945

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for chain (1 of 2)

chain

[ chān ]


  1. A group of atoms, often of the same element, bound together in a line, branched line, or ring to form a molecule.♦ In a straight chain, each of the constituent atoms is attached to other single atoms, not to groups of atoms.♦ In a branched chain, side groups are attached to the chain.♦ In a closed chain, the atoms are arranged in the shape of a ring.

Scientific definitions for Chain (2 of 2)

Chain

  1. 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 © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with chain

chain

In addition to the idioms beginning with chain

  • chain reaction
  • chain smoker

also see:

  • ball and chain
  • pull someone's chain

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.