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chains

 - 9 dictionary results
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chain

  [cheyn]
–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.
d. tire chain.
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.
a. a distance-measuring device consisting of a chain of 100 links of equal length, having a total length either of 66 ft. (20 m) (Gunter's chain or surveyor's chain) or of 100 ft. (30 m) (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. Football. a chain 10 yd. (9 m) 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, esp. so that items can be run in sequence.
15. to make (a chain stitch or series of chain stitches), as in crocheting.
–verb (used without object)
16. to form or make a chain.
—Idioms
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.
Use chains in a Sentence
Origin:
1250–1300; ME chayne < OF chaeine < L catēna fetter; see catena

Related forms:
chainless, adjective
chainlike, adjective

Synonyms:
4. sequence, succession, train, set.
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totally ordered set

 
–noun Mathematics.
a set in which a relation, as “less than or equal to,” holds for all pairs of elements of the set.
Also called chain, linearly ordered set, simply ordered set.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To chains
chain   (chān)   


(click for larger image in new window)
n.  

    1. A connected, flexible series of links, typically of metal, used especially for holding objects together or restraining or for transmitting mechanical power.

    2. Such a set of links, often of precious metal and with pendants attached, worn as an ornament or symbol of office.

    3. Bonds, fetters, or shackles.

    4. Captivity or oppression; bondage: threw off the chains of slavery.

    5. An instrument used in surveying, consisting of 100 linked pieces of iron or steel and measuring 66 feet (20.1 meters). Also called Gunter's chain.

    6. A similar instrument used in engineering, measuring 100 feet (30.5 meters).

    7. Abbr. ch A unit of measurement equal to the length of either of these instruments.

  2. A restraining or confining agent or force.

  3. chains

    1. Bonds, fetters, or shackles.

    2. Captivity or oppression; bondage: threw off the chains of slavery.

    3. An instrument used in surveying, consisting of 100 linked pieces of iron or steel and measuring 66 feet (20.1 meters). Also called Gunter's chain.

    4. A similar instrument used in engineering, measuring 100 feet (30.5 meters).

    5. Abbr. ch A unit of measurement equal to the length of either of these instruments.

  4. A series of closely linked or connected things: a chain of coincidences. See Synonyms at series.

  5. A number of establishments, such as stores, theaters, or hotels, under common ownership or management.

  6. A range of mountains.

  7. Chemistry A group of atoms bonded in a spatial configuration like links in a chain.

    1. An instrument used in surveying, consisting of 100 linked pieces of iron or steel and measuring 66 feet (20.1 meters). Also called Gunter's chain.

    2. A similar instrument used in engineering, measuring 100 feet (30.5 meters).

    3. Abbr. ch A unit of measurement equal to the length of either of these instruments.

tr.v.   chained, chain·ing, chains

  1. To bind or make fast with a chain or chains: chained the dog to a tree.

  2. To restrain or confine as if with chains: workers who were chained to a life of dull routine.


[Middle English chaine, from Old French, from Latin catēna.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
chain(-smoke)

  1. in.
    to smoke cigarette after cigarette. (As if each cigarette were a link in a chain.) : I never wanted to chain-smoke, but I got addicted.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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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 1377. chain of stores is Amer.Eng., 1846. Chain letter first recorded 1906.
"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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: chain
Pronunciation: 'chAn
Function: noun
often attributive 1 : a series of things (as bacteria) linked, connected, or associatedtogether
2 : a number of atoms or chemical groups united like links in a chain
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source

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.
Cite This Source
Science Dictionary
chain   (chān)  Pronunciation Key 
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.
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.
Cite This Source
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