chain🔊

(series of interconnected physical rings or links) A series of interconnected rings or links usually made of metal. +

An accessory, adornment or insignia comprising, containing or depicting a series of links.

(livery collar, chain of office) A livery collar, a chain of office.

(fetter or bond, literal or figurative) (figurative) That which confines, fetters, or secures; a bond.

(plural) A snow chain.

(cycling) A bicycle chain.

(American football) A pair of sticks connected by a ten yard chain, used to measure a down in American football.

A watchchain.

A keychain.

(slang) A necklace of chain jewelry, usually gold.

A door chain.

(measuring chain in surveying) (surveying) A series of interconnected links of known length, used as a measuring device.

(long measuring tape in surveying) (surveying) A long measuring tape.

(unit of length equaling 22 yards) (surveying) A unit of length, exactly equal to 22 yards, which is 4 rods or 100 links, and approximately equal to 20.12 metres; the length of a (Gunter's surveying chain); the length of a cricket pitch.

(iron hardware on the side of a sailing ship) (in the plural) Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.

(figurative) A lightning bolt.

(series of interconnected things, concrete or abstract) A series of interconnected things.

An unbroken streak.

(group of stores sharing a brand name) A series of stores or businesses with the same brand name; a series of such stores as opposed to a small, independent shop.

(always singular) A chain of command.

(economics) The sequence of processes and transactions that result in a product or commodity being available.

(warp threads, in weaving) (weaving) The warp threads of a web.

(series of linked house purchases) (British) A sequence of linked house purchases, each of which is dependent on the preceding and succeeding purchase (said to be "broken" if a buyer or seller pulls out).

(cryptocurrency) A blockchain.

(biomechanics) A kinetic chain.

(series of atoms, portion of a molecule) (physical chemistry) A number of atoms in a series, which combine to form a molecule.

(totally ordered set, in mathematics) (order theory) A totally ordered set, especially a totally ordered subset of a poset.

(sum of cells in topology) (originally) A formal sum of cells in a CW complex of a certain dimension ''k'' (in which case the formal sums are called k''-chains); a formal sum of simplices or cubes of a certain dimension in a simplical complex or cubical complex (respectively).

(element in a group in topology) (more generally) An element of a group (or module) in a chain complex.

To fasten something with a chain.

(figurative) To connect as if with a chain, due to dependence, addiction, or other feelings

To link multiple items together.

To secure someone with fetters.

To obstruct the mouth of a river etc with a chain.

(figurative) To obligate.

(computing) To relate data items with a chain of pointers.

(computing) To be chained to another data item.

To measure a distance using a 66-foot long chain, as in land surveying.

{{lb|en|transitive|computing|rare|associated with {{w|Acorn Computers}}}} To load and automatically run (a program).