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See also: Chain



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A metal chain
A chain of daisies
Molecular chain for acrylic





chain (plural chains)

    He wore a gold chain around the neck.
  2. A series of interconnected things.
    a chain of mountains
    a chain of ideas, one leading to the next
    This led to an unfortunate chain of events.
    That chain of restaurants is expanding into our town.
  4. (chemistry) A number of atoms in a series, which combine to form a molecule.
    When examined, the molecular chain included oxygen and hydrogen.
  6. (surveying) A long measuring tape.
  7. A unit of length equal to 22 yards. The length of a Gunter's surveying chain. The length of a cricket pitch. Equal to 20.12 metres, 4 rods, or 100 links.
    • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter X, p. 177, [1]
      "But it's too far—must be a quarter of a mile—and I've a portmanteau to carry." []
      "Garn!" shouted the guard. "Taint ten chain. [] "
  8. (mathematics, set theory, order theory) A totally ordered set, especially a totally ordered subset of a poset.
    • 2003, Jeremy P. Spinrad, Efficient Graph Representations, American Mathematical Society, page 108,
      We first find an approximation of the chain partition, i.e. a small but not minimum size set of chains which cover all elements of the poset.
    the chains of habit
    • Milton
      Driven down / To chains of darkness and the undying worm.
  12. (weaving) The warp threads of a web.



Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit





  1. (transitive) To fasten something with a chain.
  2. (intransitive) To link multiple items together.
  3. (transitive) To secure someone with fetters.
  5. (figuratively) To obligate.
      I miss when Game Of Thrones was wide open, but even then, the writers were chained to a narrative they didn’t yet know the ending of and feared straying too far from.
  6. (computing) To relate data items with a chain of pointers.
  7. (computing) To be chained to another data item.

Derived termsEdit



Further readingEdit






  1. Aspirate mutation of cain.


Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
cain gain nghain chain
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.