chain meaning

Noun: chain  cheyn

1. A series of things depending on each other as if linked together
   "the chain of command"
   - concatenation 
2. (chemistry) a series of linked atoms (generally in an organic molecule)
   - chemical chain 
3. A series of (usually metal) rings or links fitted into one another to make a flexible ligament 
4. (business) a number of similar establishments (stores or restaurants or banks or hotels or theatres) under one ownership 
5. Anything that acts as a restraint 
6. A unit of length 
7. A series of hills or mountains
   - range, mountain range, range of mountains, mountain chain, chain of mountains 
8. A linked or connected series of objects
   "a chain of daisies" 
9. A necklace made by a stringing objects together
   - string, strand

Verb: chain  cheyn

1. Connect or arrange into a chain by linking 
2. Fasten or secure with chains
   "Chain the chairs together"

Noun: Chain  cheyn

1. British biochemist (born in Germany) who isolated and purified penicillin, which had been discovered in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming (1906-1979)
   - Ernst Boris Chain, Sir Ernst Boris Chain

Derived forms: chained, chains, chaining

See also: catenulate

Type of: arrange, biochemist, building block, business, business concern, business organisation [Brit], business organization, concern, constraint, fasten, fix, formation, geological formation, ligament, linear measure, linear unit, necklace, restraint, secure, series, set up, unit

Antonym: unchain

Part of: bicycle, bike, chain printer, chain tongs, cycle, molecule, wheel

Encyclopedia: Chain Chain, Planetary

[American slang]
in. to smoke cigarette after cigarette.
• I never wanted to chainsmoke, but I got addicted.
• I used to chain, and my husband threatened to leave me if I didn't give it up. I quit when he left.

[Architecture]

A land surveyor's standard distance-measuring device. Also see Gunter's chain.

[Business]
noun [C]

DISTRIBUTION CHAIN, SUPPLY CHAIN, VALUE CHAIN

1

a group of shops/stores, hotels, etc. owned by the same company:

The company sells its products through retail chains.

a chain of book stores

a fast-food/grocery/hotel/retail/supermarket chain

◆ a chain of chemists/clubs/restaurants/stores/supermarkets

2

a series of things or people that are connected:

Most organizations have a formal chain of command (= a system by which instructions are passed down from one person to another).

a chain of events that led to the collapse of the company

[Defence]
See net, chain, cell system.

[Medicine]
n often attrib
1 : a series of things (as bacteria) linked, connected, or associated together
2 : a number of atoms or chemical groups united like links in a chain
Â-chain
var of KAPPA CHAIN

[Computer]
1. <operating system> (From BASIC's "CHAIN" statement) To pass control to a child or successor without going through the operating system command interpreter that invoked you. The state of the parent program is lost and there is no returning to it. Though this facility used to be common on memory-limited microcomputers and is still widely supported for backward compatibility, the jargon usage is semi-obsolescent; in particular, Unix calls this exec.

Compare with the more modern "subshell".

2. <programming> A series of linked data areas within an operating system or application program. "Chain rattling" is the process of repeatedly running through the linked data areas searching for one which is of interest. The implication is that there are many links in the chain.

3. <theory> A possibly infinite, non-decreasing sequence of elements of some total ordering, S

 x0 <= x1 <= x2 ... 

A chain satisfies:

 for all x,y in S, x <= y \/ y <= x. 

I.e. any two elements of a chain are related.

("<=" is written in LaTeX as \sqsubseteq).

• t chain:    [Medicine]A glycop ...
• chain block, chain fall, chain hoist:    [Architecture]A ta ...
• anchor chain:    Noun: anchor chain ...

Examples

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1. in a spasm of rapture he tears off his chains.
2. more reds now swarmed over the chains.
3. is there any bend in the seamount chain?
4. chain is a business that has several outlets.
5. the dog is fastened to post by an iron chain.