CHAIN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Chain

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/tʃeɪn/ Listen

Chain

noun

1.

A series of things depending on each other as if linked together. Synonym: concatenation. "A complicated concatenation of circumstances"

2.

(chemistry) a series of linked atoms (generally in an organic molecule). Synonym: chemical chain.

3.

A series of (usually metal) rings or links fitted into one another to make a flexible ligament.

4.

(business) a number of similar establishments (stores or restaurants or banks or hotels or theaters) under one ownership.

5.

Anything that acts as a restraint.

6.

A unit of length.

7.

British biochemist (born in Germany) who isolated and purified penicillin, which had been discovered in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming (1906-1979). Synonyms: Ernst Boris Chain, Sir Ernst Boris Chain.

8.

A series of hills or mountains. Synonyms: chain of mountains, mountain chain, mountain range, range, range of mountains. "The plains lay just beyond the mountain range"

9.

A linked or connected series of objects.

10.

A necklace made by a stringing objects together. Synonyms: strand, string. "A strand of pearls"

verb

(past & past part. chained; pres. part. chaining)

1.

Connect or arrange into a chain by linking.

2.

Fasten or secure with chains.

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Etymology of 'Chain'

Related searches:

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Ernst Boris Chain

long-chain molecule

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WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Chain" Quotes from Famous Books

... Lieutenant Cosgrove, the arrangements there were made to afford the mill girls a chance to enjoy the meetings, and to participate generally in the regular membership. These plans had already thrown their influence over an entire chain of the big factories of ...

— The Girl Scout Pioneers - or Winning the First B. C. • Lillian C Garis

... hard for me," she broke in. "Think of the shadows from the past always in my eyes, always in my heart—you cannot wear the convict's chain without the ...

— The Judgment House • Gilbert Parker

... castle or fashionable household. Clasp or chain for holding keys, trinkets, etc., worn at the waist by women; woman's lapel ...

— Fighting For Peace • Henry Van Dyke

... chain had been cut. Farragut's war monsters might any moment come snorting up the river. Nor was this all. The only local defence here was a volunteer artillery company of "Exempts." Old "Captain Doc," their leader, also local druggist ...

— Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets and Other Tales • Ruth McEnery Stuart

... unlike the Protestant who has retained the spirit of liberty, finds himself in the same case as that under which Israel itself once groaned. He is a slave and not a child; he binds his own limbs, as the old phrase says, by his act of faith and puts the other end of the chain into the hands of the priest. Such, in outline, ...

— Paradoxes of Catholicism • Robert Hugh Benson

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