chained

1. 1
   adjective

   Held or fastened with chains so as to prevent movement or escape.

   The chained gates of the old fortress had not opened in decades.

   Rescuers found the elephant chained at the ankles inside a cramped pen.

   Similarshackled, fettered, tethered

   Oppositeunchained, free

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of chain.

   The crew chained the logs together and floated them downriver.

   Workers chained off the area to keep curious onlookers out.

   Note

   One spelling serves two jobs. The simple past stands alone (they chained the gate), while the participle follows have or be (the gate had been chained). The verb also reaches beyond metal links. It can mean fettering a prisoner or closing a river mouth with a chain. Figuratively, it can mean binding someone through dependence, addiction or obligation.

3. 3
   adjective

   Wearing or decorated with a chain, such as a necklace or ornamental chain.

   The chained mayor led the procession in full ceremonial dress.

   She arrived chained in delicate gold links across her throat and wrists.

   Note

   Thackeray's Vanity Fair (1847–48) shows the ornamental sense at its most vivid: young dandies home on furlough, "chained and moustached." The chain is as much a part of the swagger as the mustache. Pairing the word with other details of appearance is the clearest signal of this meaning. On its own, a chained figure is more readily taken as bound or held captive, so the context has to make the ornament plain.

4. 4
   adjective

   Connected together in a sequence, with each item linked to the next like links in a chain.

   Like a row of dominoes set up so each one knocks over the next.

   The chained processes pass data from one stage to the next.

   Engineers tested how the chained components shared the load between them.

   Similarlinked, connected

   Note

   A computing term for data items, and the image carries over into engineering and the sciences. Each element is joined to its successor, often by a pointer, so the whole can be followed link by link from the first item. Nothing here is held back. Unlike the sense of being bound, the chain is a structure of connection, not of captivity.

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