chain

CHAYN/ˈt͡ʃeɪn/

Pluralchains

Verbchains, chaining, chained

22 meanings of chain

Practice

1
metal ropenouncountable or uncountable
A line of rings joined together, usually metal, used to pull, hold, or lock things.
The dog pulled hard on its chain.
Dad locked the gate with a big metal chain.
UsageA dog is on a chain; prisoners are in chains.
2
seriesnouncountable
A group of things that are joined or connected one after another.
Like train cars joined together, one after another.
A chain of strange events led to the discovery of the cave.
The islands form a chain that you can see from the plane.
UsageSay a chain of things: a chain of events.
Similarseries, string, sequence, succession
Note
3
group of storesnouncountable
A group of stores or restaurants that all have the same name and are run in the same way.
That burger chain has a restaurant in almost every city.
The toy store on Main Street is part of a big chain.
UsageSay a chain of stores or a hotel chain.
Similarfranchise, group
4
jewelrynouncountable
A piece of jewelry made of small metal rings joined together, worn around the neck or wrist.
She wore a thin gold chain with a little heart on it.
My grandfather gave me the silver chain he wore around his neck every day.
Similarnecklace
5
verbtransitive
To tie up or lock someone or something with a chain.
Chain your bike to the rack so no one takes it.
He chained the gate shut every night.
UsageChain a thing to another thing; chain up a dog.
6
atomsnouncountable
A line of atoms joined one after another inside a molecule.
Like beads on a string, where each atom is one bead joined to the next.
In science class, we drew a chain of six carbon atoms.
Plastic is made of very long chains of atoms.
Note
7
nouncountable
Something that holds a person back and keeps them from being free.
His fear was a chain that kept him quiet for years.
She finally broke the chains of her old habits.
UsageOften the chains of something; you break them to be free.
Similarshackle, fetter, bond, yoke
Note

Less common meanings

8
tie down (life)verbfigurativelytransitive
To keep someone stuck to a job, duty, or habit, as if with a chain.
His phone seems to chain him to his desk all day.
She felt chained to her old life in that small town.
UsageOften chained to something, like a desk or a job, when you feel stuck.
9
link togetherverbtransitive or intransitive
To join together one after another in a connected line.
The paper loops chain together to make a long garland.
You can chain these small steps together to make one dance.
UsageSay things chain together.
Similarlink, connect
10
verbtransitive or intransitive
In computing, to join pieces of data so each one points to the next.
Like a treasure hunt where each clue tells you where to find the next one.
The app chains each new message to the one before it.
Programmers chain the records together so the computer can follow them in order.
Note
11
house salesnounBritishcountable
In Britain, a line of house sales where each one depends on all the others.
Our house sale fell through because a buyer lower down the chain pulled out.
We cannot move into the new house until everyone in the chain is ready.
UsageIf one person pulls out, the chain breaks.
Note
12
mayor's collarnouncountable
A special necklace of metal links that a mayor or other leader wears to show their job.
The mayor put on her gold chain for the town parade.
In the museum we saw the heavy chain that the old mayors wore.
UsageOften called a chain of office.
Similarcollar
Note
13
measuring toolnouncountable
A long line of links or tape that surveyors use to measure land.
The men pulled the chain along the edge of the field to measure it.
Long ago, farms were measured with a chain instead of a tape.
Note
14
22 yardsnouncountable
A unit for measuring length equal to 22 yards, or about 20 meters.
About the length of five cars parked in a line.
The old map says the field is one chain wide along the road.
Our coach told us a cricket pitch is exactly one chain long.
Note
15
measure landverbtransitive
To measure distances on land with a surveyor's chain or a long measuring tape.
Long ago, surveyors had to chain every field by hand.
The surveyors chained the land from the river to the road.
Similarsurvey, measure
Note
16
ordered setnouncountable
In math, a set where any two members can be compared, so one always comes before the other.
Like people standing in a line by height, where you can always say who is taller.
Since any two can be put in order, 2, 5, and 9 form a chain.
Her homework asked her to find the longest chain inside the set.
Note
17
block a riververbtransitive
To block a river or harbor by stretching a heavy chain across it.
Soldiers chained the river so enemy boats could not pass.
The king ordered his men to chain the harbor before the attack.
Similarblock, bar
18
run a programverbraretransitive
To make a computer load a program and start it right away.
Type the command to chain the next program on the tape.
You can do LOAD "" or CHAIN "" to load or chain the next program if I remember correctly (it's been a loooong time since I've used a tape on an Acorn!)
1998, Juan Flynn, “BBC software transmitted on TV - how to load?”Here, chain means to make a computer load the next program and run it right away.
Note
19
noun
In higher math, an item in one of the groups of a chain complex, a special row of linked groups.
20
noun
In higher math, a sum of basic pieces of a shape, all of one dimension, such as edges or triangles.
21
noun
Strong metal links fixed to a ship's side that hold the ropes supporting the masts.
22
noun
The long threads on a loom that the side-to-side threads weave through.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of chain apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It came from Latin catēna, meaning "chain," which reached English through Old French.

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Chain derives from Latin catēna, meaning "chain". en.wiktionary.org
The word reached English through Old French. en.wiktionary.org