| See under chain (def. 8a). |
[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. |
surveyor's chain
measuring device and arbitrary measurement unit still widely used for surveying in English-speaking countries. Invented by the English mathematician Edmund Gunter in the early 17th century, Gunter's chain is exactly 22 yards (about 20 m) long and divided into 100 links. In the device, each link is a solid bar. Measurement of the public land systems of the United States and Canada is based on Gunter's chain. An area of 10 square chains is equal to one acre.
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