chain

noun

• 1a series of linked metal rings used for fastening or securing something, or for pulling loads:he slid the bolts on the front door and put the safety chain across the drug dealer is being kept in chains
• a decorative chain worn round the neck as jewellery or as a badge of office: a tall man with a heavy gold chain round his neck
• a restrictive force or factor:workers secured by the chains of the labour market

• 2a sequence of items of the same type forming a line:he kept the chain of buckets supplied with water
• a series of connected elements:the action would initiate a chain of events
• a connected series of mountains:a mountain chain
• a group of hotels, restaurants, or shops owned by the same company: the agency is part of a nationwide chain
• British a situation in which the sale of a house or flat is dependent on the prospective buyer selling their own or the seller buying another first:our offer was accepted this morning and there’s no chain
• a part of a molecule consisting of a number of atoms bonded together in a linear sequence.
• a figure in a quadrille or similar dance, in which dancers meet and pass each other in a continuous sequence.

• 3a jointed measuring line consisting of linked metal rods.
• a measure of length equivalent to a chain (66 ft).

• 4 (chains) a structure of planks projecting horizontally from a sailing ship’s sides abreast of the masts, used to widen the basis for the shrouds.

  [formed earlier of iron plates]

verb

• fasten or secure with a chain:she chained her bicycle to the railings
• confine with a chain:he had been chained up figurativeas an actuary you will not be chained to a desk