chaining

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The act or process of fastening or connecting something with a chain.

   The careful chaining of each bicycle to the rack discouraged thieves.

   Heavy rain delayed the chaining of the barges along the dock.

   Similarfastening, tethering

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of chain.

   Protesters were chaining themselves to the courthouse railings all afternoon.

   He spent the morning chaining tires together for the makeshift barrier.

   Note

   The -ing form carries the whole range of the verb chain: literal fastening (chaining a bicycle), fettering a person, binding someone figuratively by dependence or obligation, and linking items into a series. As a gerund it still takes a direct object, as in chaining the barges. The noun for the act instead takes of and can be plural: the chaining of the barges, repeated chainings.

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