Background for chains

chains

/tʃeɪnz/

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noun

A series of interconnected rings or links usually made of metal.

Examples :

"He wore a gold chain around the neck."

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noun

A series of interconnected things.

Examples :

"This led to an unfortunate chain of events."

system thing structure

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noun

A series of stores or businesses with the same brand name.

Examples :

"That chain of restaurants is expanding into our town."

business economy organization commerce

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noun

A number of atoms in a series, which combine to form a molecule.

Examples :

"When examined, the molecular chain included oxygen and hydrogen."

chemistry compound science

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noun

A series of interconnected links of known length, used as a measuring device.

Examples :

"The surveyor used chains to accurately measure the length of the property line. "

technical device

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noun

A long measuring tape.

Examples :

"The surveyors used chains to measure the distance across the farmer's field. "

utility technical

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noun

A unit of length equal to 22 yards. The length of a Gunter's surveying chain. The length of a cricket pitch. Equal to 20.12 metres, 4 rods, or 100 links.

Examples :

"The farmer measured the field in chains to determine how much fencing he would need. "

unit math technical agriculture property sport history

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noun

A totally ordered set, especially a totally ordered subset of a poset.

Examples :

"In the company's organizational chart, the management hierarchy forms several distinct chains where each person reports directly to the person above them. "

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noun

A sequence of linked house purchases, each of which is dependent on the preceding and succeeding purchase (said to be "broken" if a buyer or seller pulls out).

Examples :

""The real estate agent warned us that house purchases can involve long chains, so if one buyer backs out, several other deals might fall through." "

property business finance economy

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noun

That which confines, fetters, or secures; a bond.

Examples :

"the chains of habit"

law police property

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noun

(in the plural) Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.

Examples :

"The carpenter carefully secured the chains to the hull of the wooden ship, preparing to attach the deadeyes and shrouds that would support the mast. "

nautical sailing technical

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noun

The warp threads of a web.

Examples :

"The weaver carefully inspected the chains of her loom before beginning to thread the weft yarn. "

structure part material

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verb

To fasten something with a chain.

Examples :

"The farmer chained the gate shut to keep the animals inside. "

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verb

To link multiple items together.

Examples :

"The librarian chains the new dictionaries to the shelves to prevent them from being stolen. "

item action process

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verb

To secure someone with fetters.

Examples :

"The police chains the suspect to the chair to prevent him from escaping during questioning. "

law police inhuman

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verb

To obstruct the mouth of a river etc with a chain.

Examples :

"The port authority chains the river mouth every night to prevent unauthorized boats from entering. "

nautical geography

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verb

Examples :

"The contract chains her to work here for at least two years. "

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verb

To relate data items with a chain of pointers.

Examples :

"The programmer chains each customer record to the next in the database, allowing for efficient browsing of customer lists. "

computing technology technical

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verb

To be chained to another data item.

Examples :

"In the spreadsheet, the final grade automatically chains to the average of the quiz scores. "

computing technical

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verb

To measure a distance using a 66-foot long chain, as in land surveying.

Examples :

"The surveyors will chain the property line tomorrow morning to determine its exact length before the new fence is built. "

property technical job science area

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verb

(associated with Acorn Computers) To load and automatically run (a program).

Examples :

"After I finished coding the game on my BBC Micro, I chains it to the title screen program. "

computing technology electronics machine