Chain
[tʃeɪn] or [tʃen]
Definition
(noun.) a series of (usually metal) rings or links fitted into one another to make a flexible ligament.
(noun.) a necklace made by a stringing objects together; 'a string of beads'; 'a strand of pearls';.
(noun.) anything that acts as a restraint.
(noun.) a linked or connected series of objects; 'a chain of daisies'.
(noun.) (business) a number of similar establishments (stores or restaurants or banks or hotels or theaters) under one ownership.
(noun.) a series of things depending on each other as if linked together; 'the chain of command'; 'a complicated concatenation of circumstances'.
(noun.) (chemistry) a series of linked atoms (generally in an organic molecule).
(noun.) British biochemist (born in Germany) who isolated and purified penicillin, which had been discovered in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming (1906-1979).
(noun.) a unit of length.
(verb.) fasten or secure with chains; 'Chain the chairs together'.
(verb.) connect or arrange into a chain by linking.
Checked by Giselle--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A series of links or rings, usually of metal, connected, or fitted into one another, used for various purposes, as of support, of restraint, of ornament, of the exertion and transmission of mechanical power, etc.
(n.) That which confines, fetters, or secures, as a chain; a bond; as, the chains of habit.
(n.) A series of things linked together; or a series of things connected and following each other in succession; as, a chain of mountains; a chain of events or ideas.
(n.) An instrument which consists of links and is used in measuring land.
(n.) Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.
(n.) The warp threads of a web.
(v. t.) To fasten, bind, or connect with a chain; to fasten or bind securely, as with a chain; as, to chain a bulldog.
(v. t.) To keep in slavery; to enslave.
(v. t.) To unite closely and strongly.
(v. t.) To measure with the chain.
(v. t.) To protect by drawing a chain across, as a harbor.
Editor: Nolan
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Fetter, manacle, shackle, bond.[2]. Connected series, orderly succession.
v. a. [1]. Fasten with a chain.[2]. Confine, restrain, fetter, shackle, trammel.[3]. Enslave, hold in bondage.
Inputed by DeWitt
Definition
n. a series of links or rings passing through one another: a number of things coming after each other: anything that binds: a connected course or train of events: in surveying often called Gunter's chain a measure of 100 links 66 feet long (10 sq. chains make an acre): (pl.) fetters bonds confinement generally.—v.t. to fasten: to fetter: to restrain: (Shak.) to embrace.—ns. Chain′-arm′our chain-mail; Chain′-bolt a large bolt used to secure the chain-plates to the ship's side; Chain′-bridge a bridge suspended on chains: a suspension-bridge; Chain′-cā′ble a cable composed of iron links.—p.adj. Chained bound or fastened as with a chain: fitted with a chain.—n. Chain′-gang a gang of convicts chained together.—adj. Chain′less without chains: unfettered.—ns. Chain′let a small chain; Chain′-mail mail or armour made of iron links connected together much used in Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries; Chain′-mould′ing moulding in the form of a chain; Chain′-pier a pier supported by chains like a chain-bridge.—n.pl. Chain′-plates on shipboard iron plates bolted below the channels to serve as attachments for the dead-eyes through which the standing rigging or shrouds and back-stays are rove and secured.—ns. Chain′-pump a pump consisting of buckets or plates fastened to an endless iron chain and used for raising water; Chain′-rule an arithmetical rule so called from the terms of the problem being stated as equations and connected as if by a chain so as to obtain by one operation the same result as would be obtained by a number of different operations in simple proportion: the rule for solving problems by compound proportion; Chain′-shot two bullets or half-bullets fastened together by a chain used formerly in naval engagements to destroy rigging now replaced by case-shot and shrapnel-shell; Chain′-stitch a peculiar kind of stitch resembling the links of a chain; Chain′-work work consisting of threads cords &c. wrought with open spaces like the links of a chain: network.
Inputed by Jill
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of being bound in chains, denotes that unjust burdens are about to be thrown upon your shoulders; but if you succeed in breaking them you will free yourself from some unpleasant business or social engagement. To see chains, brings calumny and treacherous designs of the envious. Seeing others in chains, denotes bad fortunes for them.
Edited by Edith
Examples
- For what's a door-chain when she's got one always up? Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- He has a watch and a chain and a ring and a breast-pin and a handsome suit of clothes. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- In following the final assembly line from the point where the chain conveyor engages the frame and axles, the visitor is impressed with the dispatch with which every movement is executed. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- He gave me my watch and chain, and spared no expense in buying them; both were of superior workmanship, and very expensive. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- At last, he said, There was an old gentleman, with thick eyebrows, and a broad hat, and large chain and seals. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- When he began to undo the chain, the legs desisted, and a voice began. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Another night was coming on, for another night he was to be suspended in chain of physical life, over the bottomless pit of nothingness. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- She has joined the two chains, and has fastened them to the hasp in the tin case. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Many prisoners die here in their chains. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- He proclaimed to the Italians that the French were coming to break their chains--_and they were_! H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Arise, ye Greeks, and break your chains! Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- For as to secrecy, Henry is quite the hero of an old romance, and glories in his chains. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- I know not; I lost sensation, and chains and darkness were the only objects that pressed upon me. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- Four brass chains support a slab of wood about 28 inches long by about 8 or ten inches in width. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- I fell in behind them and soon we were at the cell in which the great Thark had been chained. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Reliant on Night, confiding in Solitude, I kept my tears sealed, my sobs chained, no longer; they heaved my heart; they tore their way. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Thus vanquished and restricted, she pined, like any other chained denizen of deserts. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Mr Flintwinch shut him out, and chained him out, without a moment's loss of time. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- She had chained it up again, and however it might tear her within, she subdued it to herself. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Chained with them were a number of fierce beasts, such as had been turned upon us, and others equally as ferocious. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- And so I caused Hor Vastus to be harnessed in the metal of a Zodangan soldier and chained in Parthak's cell beside him. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- I should think you'd be ashamed to spend all your life buying men and women, and chaining them, like cattle! Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- The chaining of the door behind her, as she went forth, disenchanted Lizzie Hexam of that first relief she had felt. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- He sent a damping message to a solitary who had invented a new degree in saintliness by chaining himself to a rock in a narrow cave. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- You hear him bolting and chaining the door within. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
Edited by Jessica