[cheyn] 
| 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,
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| 4. | a series of things connected or following in succession: a chain of events. |
| 5. | a 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 ring 1 (def. 17). |
| 8. | Surveying, Civil Engineering.
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| 9. | Mathematics. totally ordered set. |
| 10. | Football. a chain 10 yd. (9 m) in length for determining whether a first down has been earned. |
| 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, esp. so that items can be run in sequence. |
| 15. | to make (a chain stitch or series of chain stitches), as in crocheting. |
| 16. | 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. |
chain(-smoke)
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"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]
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.
| 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. |
