| 释义 |
▪ I. chain, n.|tʃeɪn|
Forms: (4 keigne), 4–6 cheyne, chayn(e, 5–7 chaine, 6– chain, (occas. 4 cheine, cheingne, 4–5 cheigne, 6 cheynne); north. and Sc. 4–5 chenye, 4–6 cheny, 4–7 chenyie, 5–6 chenȝei, 7 cheinȝie, 9 dial. chain-, chenzie; 4–5 and 9 dial. chyne, chine, 5 schene, 6 schyne, chene, cheane, chane.
[ME. chayne, cheyne, a. OF. chaeine, chaaine, chaene, chaane, in ONF. caeine, caenne (= Pr. & Sp. cadena, It. catena):—L. catēna chain. With the ME. types in -gne, Sc. -nȝe, -nȝie, cf. mod.Picard cagne; mod.Sc. is cheen (tʃin).]
I. General sense.
1. a. A connected series of links (of metal or other material) passing through each other, or otherwise jointed together, so as to move on each other more or less freely, and thus form a strong but flexible ligament or string.
Chains differ in structure according to the shape of their links and the mode in which these are united; also in material and size, in accordance with their purpose of fastening, restraint, traction, ornament, etc. Hence such qualifying attributes as gold, iron, cable, draught, watch, etc.
c1300K. Alis. 683 His men him brought, by a chayn..a ragged colt. 1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 174 Þe chyne in tuo he hew. c1340Cursor M. App. i. 22054 (Edin.) An angel..wiþ a mikil keigne [other MSS. cheigne, cheingne, cheny, cheyne] in hande. 1375Barbour Bruce xvii. 623 And with ane stark cheyne [v.r. chenyie, stark chenȝeis] hald thame thar. 1480Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 123 A spering cheyne with staples and hookes. 1483Cath. Angl. 63 Chine, cathena. 1530–50Gregory Chron. 192 Made ij stronge schynys of yryn, unto the draught brygge of London. 1552–3Inv. Ch. Goods Staff. in Ann. Lichfield IV. 24 Itm. ij sensors of masten, on of them hath chanes of silver. 1598Barret Theor. Warres v. iii. 135 Many chaines of iron to draw the artillery. 1667Milton P.L. II. 1051 Hanging in a golden Chain This pendent World. 1680Lond. Gaz. No. 1538/4 A Silver Watch..without String or Chain. 1712Steele Spect. No. 504 ⁋5, I am to be hang'd in chains. 1712Lond. Gaz. No. 4972/4 Abraham Deseser,..Watch-chain-maker. 1859F. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 126 No. 8 keys and unkeys the draught chain. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 50 When the timekeeper is going, the chain is drawn off the fusee on to the barrel. Mod. Children making daisy chains.
b. as a substance. (No plural.)
16..in Reliques Anc. Poetry (1823) III. 15 He put in chaine full nine yards long, And he let goe his great gunnes shott. 1637MS. Abst. in Maclaurin Crim. Cases xl. (Jam.), He was sentenced to be hanged in chenyie on the gallowlee till his corpse rot.
2. a. As employed to restrain or fetter; hence a bond or fetter generally; esp. in pl. fetters, bonds; abstr. confinement, imprisonment, captivity. chain and ball: see ball n.1 1 b; also attrib. and fig. (U.S.).
1393Gower Conf. II. 132 They bounden him with cheines faste. 1611Bible Ps. lxviii. 6 Hee bringeth out those that are bound with chaines.
1382Wyclif Jer. xxvii. 2 Mac to thee bondis and cheynus [Coverd. chaynes, 1611 yokes] and thou shalt putte them in thi necke. 1526Tindale Acts xii. 7 The cheynes fell of from his hondes. 1555in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xliv. 125 Jeremie..made a chain of wood..and [Hananiah] took the chain from his neck and brake it. 1667Milton P.L. i. 48 To bottomless perdition, there to dwell In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire. 1712Berkeley Pass. Obed. Wks. III. 129 The natural dread of slavery, chains, and fetters. 1734Pope Ess. Man iv. 234 Who noble ends by noble means obtains, Or failing, smiles in exile or in chains. 1866‘F. Kirkland’ Pict. Bk. Anecdotes 154/1 One year's hard labor with chain and ball. 1879Froude Cæsar iv. 40 Brought in chains to Rome. 1887F. Francis Jr. Saddle & Mocassin 62 A chain-and-ball gang of convicts slowly advanced, sweeping the dusty road. 1904H. E. Rives Castaway 213 Dragging the chain and ball of a life sentence of desperation.
b. fig. A binding or restraining force which prevents freedom of action. (Cf. fetters, bonds.)
c1374Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 284 For either mot I haue yow in my cheyn Or with the dethe ye mot departe vs tweyn. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 57 Excepte the chaynes & bondes of synne be vtterly broken. 1792S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 142 Dusky forms in chains of slumber cast. 1787Burns Streams that glide, Streams..Never bound by winter's chains. 1822Hazlitt Table-t. I. iii. 62 The chain of habit. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 36 The first band of men who had shaken off their chains.
†c. A constraining force; a bond of union or sympathy; a tie. Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 616 Þow shalt see in þi-selue treuthe sitte in þine herte, In a cheyne of charyte as þow a childe were. c1400Rom. Rose 4815 Love..is a sykenesse of the thought Annexed and kned bitwixe tweyne, With male and female, with oo cheyne. 1655–60Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 186/1 There is a Divine Chain, which..maketh one of it self, and those things which are united to it.
3. A personal ornament in the form of a chain worn round the neck; sometimes an ensign of office (chain of office).
(The chain of a locket, a watch chain, and the like, combine senses 1 and 3.)
1397Will in Fairholt Hist. Costume Gloss. s.v., A chain of gold of the old manner, with the name of God in each part. 1429Sc. Acts in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) II. 77 Serpis, beltis, uches, and chenȝies. 1463Mann. & Househ. Exp. 154 My mastyr sold to my lord off Norfolke a schene of gold. 1535Coverdale Prov. i. 9 That shal brynge grace vnto thy heade, and shal be a cheyne aboute thy necke. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 433 The new found Glasse Cheynes that you weare about your neckes. 1599Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 197 What fashion will you weare the Garland off? About your necke, like an Vsurers chaine? 1725N. Robinson Th. Physick Introd. 4 Physicians at Milan..wear Chains of Gold, as a Mark of Distinction. Mod. The mayor was present wearing his chain of office.
4. fig. A connected course, train, or series; a sequence:
a. of action or condition. chain of being(s), (a conception of the universe as) a continuous series or gradation of types of being in order of perfection, stretching from God as the infinite down through a hierarchy of finite beings to nothingness; the scale of being or nature (see scale n.3 5); chain of command, a series of positions of military or civil authority such that each holder is directly responsible to, and takes his orders from, the next above.
[a1593H. Smith Serm. (1866) II. 186 Draws sin upon sin, till there be a chain of many links. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. I. i. 3 The highest link of nature's chain must needs be tied to the foot of Jupiter's chair.] 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. vii. 30 In the chain of Discourse, wheresoever it be interrupted, there is an End for that time. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. ii. §31 Here no chain of succession could be pleaded, where no two links followed in order. 1711Steele Spect. No. 109 ⁋1 Without..Care to preserve the Appearance of Chain of Thought. 1712Addison Spect. No. 519, The Chain of Beings, which has been often termed the nexus utriusque mundi. 1732Pope Ess. Man i. 237 Vast chain of being, which from God began, Natures aethereal, human, angel, man, Beast, bird, fish, insect! 1742[see connexion 4 a]. 1794Martyn Rousseau's Bot. Introd. 1 This false idea..reduced the vegetable chain to a small number of interrupted links. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 31 The simplest chain of reasoning. 1875Dawson Dawn of Life i. 3 Link in a reproductive chain of being. a1889Mod. The chain of proof is complete. 1915Sphere 23 Jan. 96/1 The general headquarters with the chain of command branching out into three corps headquarters. 1936A. O. Lovejoy (title) The Great Chain of Being. 1951Auden & Kallman Rake's Progr. ii. 35 In secular abundant bliss He shall ascend the chain Of Being to its top. 1957Times 23 Aug. 3/1 Whether the traffic branch was directly responsible to the Chief Constable or whether the chain of command led through the Superintendent. 1959Listener 23 Apr. 700/1 President Eisenhower has cherished the General's devotion to the chain of command: the habit of delegating total responsibility. 1970Daily Tel. 11 May 9/5 The 15 companies of Independent Television have managed to avoid bureaucracy: their chains of command have been kept short.
b. of individual facts, acts, events, or the like.
1696Whiston The. Earth ii. (1722) 184 Purely Mathematical Propositions are demonstrated by a chain of deductions. 1719Young Revenge iv. i, Day buries day; month, month; and year the year; Our life is but a chain of many deaths. 1789Bentham Princ. Legisl. i. §11 A chain of proofs must have their commencement somewhere. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xx. 571 A strange chain of events. 1885Sir R. Baggallay in Law Times Rep. LII. 672/1 The Act provides for a complete chain of trustees.
c. A number of cigarettes or cigars smoked in continuous succession. Cf. chain-smoker in 19.
1908Field 19 Sept. 544/3 Mr. Travis smoked a chain of long black cigars during all his matches... Mr. Hilton used to smoke a chain of cigarettes. 1930Auden Poems 67 Smoking cigarettes in chains until their heads are in a whirl.
5. A continuous linear series of material objects:
a. of objects purposely connected, or connecting points in a line.
1791Smeaton Edystone L. (1793) 197 The Chain of triangles from the Edystone to..Plymouth, for ascertaining their distance trigonometrically. 1810Henry Elem. Chem. (1826) I. 168 Another modification of the apparatus, which may be called the Chain of Cups, was proposed by Volta. 1838Murray's Handbk. N. Germ. 464 By means of the chain of steamers now navigating the Rhine. 1870Rolleston Anim. Life 132 The chain of nerve ganglia.
b. of objects naturally disposed in a linear series (with connexion actual or imagined).
1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iii. i. (1723) 172 The Andes, that prodigious Chain of Mountains. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. v. 458 The Ladrones..an extensive chain of Islands. 1808Med. Jrnl. XIX. 411 The vibrations will pass..by the chain of bones, to the Membrana Fenestræ Ovalis. 1813Bakewell Introd. Geol. 57 The most extensive mountain chains have a northern and southern direction. 1867W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 87 South of the St. Lawrence and the great chain of lakes. 1883Lloyd Ebb & Fl. II. 218 A chain of undulating hills.
c. Short for mountain-chain (as in b.).
1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 277 A submarine chain extending from Boulogne to Folkestone. 1846Grote Greece (1862) II. i. 1 The chain called Olympus. 1872Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 152 A southerly continuation of the Humboldt chain.
d. ladies' chain [Fr. chaine des dames]: a part of the second figure in a quadrille.
1825Analysis of London Ball-Room 102 Quadrilles... Ladies chain. 1869Eng. Mech. 3 Dec. 271/3 Performing with his partner a ‘ladies' chain’ in their fantastic quadrille.
e. A series of branch businesses, stores, etc., controlled by one owner or firm. Also attrib. (Cf. chain store in 19.) orig. U.S.
1846W. L. Mackenzie Van Buren 208 A convenient instrument for regulating future state elections through a chain of banks. 1895N.Y. Dramatic News 14 Dec. 6/2 A chain of eleven theatres. 1906S. E. Sparling Introd. Business Org. 205 A better illustration of the chain of stores operated by the manufacturer is the Douglas chain of shoe stores and the Lipton tea stores. 1928Sat. Even. Post 12 May 59/2 Managing director of a big chain-grocery concern. 1930Economist 15 Feb. 367/2 Numerous concerns owning extensive ‘chain’ shops. 1931Ibid. 14 Nov. 897/2 In Britain, taking chains and co-operatives together, some 3,500 groups controlling 45,000 retail outlets..occupy much the same position as do chain stores alone in the United States. 1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage xiv. 181 Mr. J. J. Shubert..whose syndicate..owns a chain of 800 theatres in America. 1964Daily Tel. 18 Jan. 8/2 The cuts that have already been announced by some retail chains in the past few days.
f. A line of people formed for a particular purpose, spec. a bucket chain (see bucket n.1 6); grand chain: a dance-figure in which each person dances with a line of people one after another (cf. sense 5 d).
1864Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xi. 104 Sixteen disciples of Podsnappery went through the figures of..the grand chain. 1876C. M. Yonge Three Brides v. 72, I tried to get them to form a chain and drench the warehouses. 1932[see bucket chain s.v. bucket n.1 6]. 1941J. Cary House of Children 61 We went through a lancers together where all the girls..shouted: ‘Grand chain—do think what you're doing.’ 1963Guardian 17 Jan. 16/4 The staff..formed a human chain to rescue Chinese ceramics..from the firm's main showroom after a water main burst.
g. Chem. A number of similar atoms (usu. of carbon) joined in series in a molecule. closed chain, a ring of similar linked atoms; open chain, one the ends of which are not joined together.
1881Roscoe & Schorlemmer Chem. III. i. 113 The atoms may thus be represented as forming a chain, one atom being linked on to the other, so that when one of them is removed without altering the position of the others, the chain is broken. 1904Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 111/1 When a number of atoms are joined together in a ring as distinct from a chain, the system is called a closed chain, and its derivatives closed chain compounds. 1928Kingzett Chem. Encycl. (ed. 4) 131 Open chains are regarded as having terminal atoms not mutually in combination, by which, for example, aliphatic combinations, such as the olefines and paraffins, are characterized. Ibid. 132 In closed chains, the terminal atoms are regarded as mutually combined, forming a ring, as in benzene. 1946Nature 14 Dec. 864/1 The total chain-length of the alkyl substituents ranges from 13 to 15 carbon atoms. 1964N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. ii. 11 The skeleton of carbon atoms forming a paraffin molecule is usually referred to as a ‘chain’.
h. Bacteriology. A series of cells joined end to end.
1910Encycl. Brit. III. 160/2 (caption) A chain of motile rodlets still growing and dividing. 1917Jrnl. Bacteriol. II. 155 Though chains of cells may be developed. 1928W. Giltner Gen. Microbiology iii. 33 The spherical forms may divide in one plane and, if they cohere, form chains usually called streptococcus. Ibid. 34 The rods separate after fission, or form chains (the streptobacillus). 1930R. St. John-Brooks in Syst. Bacteriol. (Med. Res. Council) I. ii. 104 Division occurs either in one direction, whereby chain-formation takes place (streptococci) or in two directions... Among the staphylococci, however, short chains of organisms may be demonstrated, which show their relationship to the streptococci. 1951McLean & Ivimey-Cook Theoret. Bot. I. 346 Bacteria were classified in the past chiefly on their microscopical appearance... The simplest form is..known as coccus. When these occur separately they are put in the genus Micrococcus,..if in chains, the genus Streptococcus.
i. Computing. A set of data, records, etc., related by chaining (chaining vbl. n. 2); a linear list in which each item except the last contains the address of one successor.
1959Loading & maintaining Chained File for RAMAC 305 (IBM) 7 If the record is a link of the chain, but not the first link (home address), the record is deleted and the overflow address field of the deleted record is placed in the previous link. 1963Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery VI. 273/2 The tree representation of this serial search reduces to the trivial case of a chain. 1967H. Hellerman Digital Computer Syst. Princ. iii. 154 Loading can also be done in one stage instead of two by proper maintenance of chains already established when it becomes necessary to start a new chain at an address already used by a chained item. 1969D. Lefkovitz File Structures for On-Line Syst. iii. 48 The system must..be able to extend the length of any chain indefinitely by adding more records to a given subfile. 1983Dict. Computing 90/2 A block of data can be a member of more than one chain. The personnel file of a company may for instance be chained by factory number, by alphabetical order.., by age.
II. Specific uses.
6. A chain or similar construction used as a barrier to obstruct the passage of a bridge, street, river, the entrance into a harbour, etc.; a boom.
c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 569 For other wey is fro the gatis none, Of Dardanus, there opyn is the cheyne. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccxxvi. 748 The chenesse of euery strete taken downe and brought into the palayes. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (1852) 19 Malpas of London drewe the cheynne of London brygge. 1697W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 223 There was a Chain of great Trees placed cross the Creek..we were afterwards near half an hour cutting the Boom or Chain. 1720Burchett Naval Trans. iii. xix. 400 The Dutch..broke their way through, and burnt the three ships which lay to defend the Chain.
7. A chain fixed to a door-post, which serves to secure a house door within when slightly opened.
1839Dickens Nich. Nick. liii, ‘Top bolt’ muttered Arthur, fastening as he spoke, ‘bottom bolt—chain—bar— double-lock—and key.’ 1862Thackeray Philip II. xix, Mary came down stairs, and opened the hall-door, keeping the chain fastened, and asked him what he wanted.
8. Part of a curb or bridle.
1617Markham Caval. ii. 14 The Cavezan..in fashion of a Chaine, & in our English phrase commonly called the Chaine.
9. a. A measuring line, used in land-surveying, formed of one hundred iron rods called links jointed together by eyes at their ends.
At first chains of varying length were used or proposed; but that described by Gunter in 1624 is the one now adopted; it measures 66 feet or 4 poles, divided into 100 links.
1610W. Folkingham Art of Survey To Rdr. 1 The Beame and Chaine balke no Truthes, nor blaunch Vntruthes. 1624Gunter Descr. Sector, &c. in Penny Cycl. VI. 462/2 We may measure the length and breadth by chains, each chain being four perches in length, and divided into 100 links. 1669Sturmy Mariners Mag. ii. v. i. 3 The Chains now used and in most esteem among Surveyors are Three. The first I will name is Mr. Rathborn's..and that of Mr. Gunter's..this year Mr. Wing hath described a chain of 20 Links in a Perch. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 312 An accurate land-surveyor, with his chain, sight, and theodolite. 1801Hutton Course Math. (1828) II. 54 Land is measured with a chain, called Gunter's Chain..of 100 equal links; and the length of each link is therefore..7·92 inches.
b. A chain's length, as a lineal measure, equal to 66 feet, or 4 poles.
An area of ten chains in length by one in breadth, or 100,000 square links = an acre.
1661S. Partridge Doub. Scale Prop. 40 Let a piece of land be 36 poles broad, and the length 23 chains and an half. 1725Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Surveying, It contains 12 Chains, 5 Links. 1850Mayhew Lond. Labour (ed. 2) III. 333 (Hoppe) The London and North-Western..in its long and branching extent of 477 miles 351/4 chains.
10. Arch. A bar of iron, etc. built into walls to increase their cohesion; see also chain-bond, -timber in 19, chain-plate 2.
1764Watson in Phil. Trans. LIV. 217 In edifices of this kind, for additional strength, the builders employ bars of iron, connected together in such a manner as their exigencies require; and these, though they have no links, are denominated chains. 1842Gwilt Archit. (1876) §1495 There are other means [for uniting the voussoirs]..such as dowels and cramps..these are far better than the chains and ties of iron introduced by the moderns.
11. Mil. Short for chain-shot.
1804Monson in Wellesley's Disp. 544 A most tremendous discharge of round, grape, and chain, from their guns.
†12. Short for chain-pump. Obs.
1682Lond. Gaz. No. 1750/4 An Engine that delivers..more Water than the Chain, and with greater Ease.
13. Weaving. The longitudinal threads in a woven fabric; the warp. (So in F. and Ger. App. sometimes misused for woof; cf. Cotgr. ‘chaine de drap, the woofe of cloth; the thread which in weauing runs ouercrosse it’.)
1721C. King Brit. Merch. II. 17 All worsted Chains, and only the Shute of Woollen-Yarns. 1774Act 14 Geo. III, c. 25 Taking the Biers out of the Chains and withholding Part of the Woof or Abb Yarn delivered to them. 1810J. T. in Risdon's Surv. Devon Introd. 25 The one [yarn]..forms the chain or woof. 1875Ure Dict. Arts III. 1110 The longitudinal threads, which are to form the chain of the web. Ibid. 1113 The European loom..[has] a warp-beam, round which the chain has been wound.
14. Naut. A contrivance used to carry the lower shrouds of a mast outside the ship's side, and by thus widening the basis of support to increase the firmness of the mast.
a. The part which secures the shroud to the ship's side, now commonly called chain-plate.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. v. 20 The Chaines are strong plates of iron fast bolted into the Ships side by the Chaine-waile. 1769in Falconer Dict. Marine. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 105 Chain or chains, the links of iron which are connected to the bindings that surround the dead-eyes of the channels. They are secured to the ship's side by a bolt through the toe-link, called the chain-bolt.
b. pl. The assemblage of chain-wale, chain-plates, dead-eyes, etc., which form the contrivance to extend the basis of the shrouds; usually qualified, as fore-, main-, mizen-chains, according to the mast. in the chains: standing upon the chain-wale between two shrouds (whence the leadsman heaves the hand-lead).
1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xi. (1840) 193 To board her [a ship]..at her fore-chains on one side. 1825H. Gascoigne Nav. Fame 52 In each Main-chains an able seaman stands, With well coil'd line and plummet in his hands. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xiii. 45 Climbed up the fore chains, and found the deck empty.
15. The connexion in a galvanic battery.
1802Med. Jrn. VIII. 318 These phenomena, however, only take place the moment the Galvanic chain is shut, or when it is suffered to remain shut..If the opposite action, occasioned at the moment the chain is separated, had entirely supplanted..the former.
16. The series of bubbles on the surface of the water marking the course of an otter.
1865G. Berkeley Life & Recoll. II. 317, I at once observed the ‘Chain’ or bubbles of an otter.
III. attrib. and Comb.
17. attrib. Of chains; chain-like; of the nature of chain-mail (cf. 19).
c1425in Hampole's Psalter 1 This same sauter in all degre is the self in sothnes That lyȝt at hampole in surte..Þar it lyȝt in cheyn bondes. 1886Rider Haggard K. Solomon's Mines xv. 240 We managed to get off the chain shirts.
18. General combs., as chain-link, chain-maker, chain-making, chain-retailing, chain-shop, chain-verse, chain-way; chain-drooped, chain-swung, adjs.
1820Keats Eve St. Agnes xl, A *chain-droop'd lamp was flickering by each door.
1896A. Sharp Bicycles & Tricycles xxvi. 400 The rivet..bears along the whole width of the inner *chain-link [of a bicycle chain]. 1920Masefield Enslaved 30 A stirring sleeper struck the bell Of chain-links upon stones. 1958Archit. Rev. CXXIII. 310 The subtopian effect of chainlink fencing. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 2 Feb. 121/1 The bottom half of the 6ft-high front is composed of galvanized sheeting, above this being chain-link netting because of the danger from foxes.
1860Offic. Report in Merc. Mar. Mag. VII. 141 *Chain-makers, shipowners. 1886Pall Mall G. 27 Aug. 11/1 The 2,500 chainmakers of both sexes who went out on strike on the 7th inst.
Ibid. *Chainmaking is only possible by skilful hand-labour. 1887Daily News 18 June 3/2 Mr. Matthews..said the wages in the chainmaking trade..were probably not more on the average than 7s. per week.
1935Economist 14 Dec. 1215/1 The report of this ‘*chain retailing’ organisation..does not lend itself to comparison with previous results.
1886Pall Mall G. 27 Aug. 11/2 Working for some hours in the *chain-shops.
1820Keats Ode Psyche 33 No incense sweet From *chain-swung censer teeming.
1597–8Bp. Hall Sat. Postscr., Ariosto..whose *chaine-verse, to which he fettereth himselfe.
1690Lond. Gaz. No. 2573/4 A plain Silver *Chain Watch.
19. Special combs.: chain-argument (Logic), a sorites; chain-armour = chain-mail; chain-bag, a woman's hand-bag made of fine metal chain-work; chain-bearer = chain-man; chain-belt, (a) see quot.; (b) a chain adapted as a belt for transmitting power; chain-boat (see quot.); chain-bolt, (a) Naut. one of the bolts by which chain-plates are fastened to the ship's side; (b) the bolt or knob at the end of a door-chain (see 7); chain-bond (Arch.), a chain or tier of timber built in a brick-wall to increase its stability and cohesion (see 10); † chain-bridle, a bridle with a chain (see 8); chain-brow way Coal-mining (see quot.); † chain-bullet = chain-shot; chain-carrier = chain-man; so chain-carrying vbl. n.; chain case, the protective covering of the chain gear of a bicycle, motor vehicle, etc.; chain chest Naut., a locker in the channels for storage of wash-deck gear; chain coral, a kind of fossil coral, Catenipora escharoides; chain-coupling, a secondary coupling, consisting of chains and hooks, between railway carriages or trucks, which acts in case of any accident to the primary coupling; chain dog, (a) a dog restrained by a chain; (b) a chain having at each end a ‘dog’ or hook, which is driven into logs to fasten them together into a raft (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1893); chain-dotted a., (of a line) marked with alternate dot and dash; chain drive, driving, a method of transmitting power by means of a chain gear, esp. from the engine to the driving wheels of a bicycle, motor vehicle, etc.; chain-driven a., driven by means of chain gear; hence chain driver, a vehicle driven by this method; chain gammoning Naut., gammoning consisting of a chain; chain-gang, a gang or number of convicts chained together while at work, etc., to prevent escape; chain gear, gearing, a gear for transmitting motion by means of an endless chain; esp. one in which the chain transmits motion from one sprocket-wheel to another; chain gemma Bot. (see quot. 1900); chain-grate (stoker) (see quot. 1889); chain-guard, a mechanism in watches to prevent over-winding; chain-harrow, a harrow composed of chain-work; hence chain-harrow v. trans. and intr., chain-harrowing vbl. n.; chain-hook, (a) a hook fixed to a chain; (b) Naut. ‘an iron rod with a handling-eye at one end, and a hook at the other, for hauling the chain-cables about’ (Smyth); chain horse, a horse harnessed with chain traces, employed as an additional horse in drawing heavy loads, esp. up a hill; chain inclinometer, an instrument for indicating the inclination of a surveyor's chain; chain-instinct Psychol. (see quot.); chain knot (see quot.); † chain-lace, ? lace made with chain-stitch; chain letter, a letter written with an invitation to the recipient to pass it on to another (or copies of it to others), the process being repeated in a continuous chain until a certain total is reached; chain-lightning, lightning which appears to form a long zig-zag or broken line; see also quot. 1885; chain-line Papermaking, the mark of a chain-wire; = wire line, -mark (a) (see wire n. 16); chain-locker (Naut.), the receptacle for storing the chain-cable; chain-mail, mail or body-armour made of interlaced links or rings; chain-man, the bearer of the measuring chain in surveying; chain-mark = chain-line; chain messenger Naut., a messenger consisting of an endless chain; chain-moulding, an ornamental moulding imitating chains; chain-pier, a promenade pier, supported by chains like a chain-bridge; chain-pin, an iron pin or ‘arrow’ used in marking distances in measuring with the chain; chain pipe Naut. (see quot.); chain printer, a line printer in which the printing types are carried on a moving endless chain spanning the width of the printed line, a type being activated when it reaches the right position in the line; chain-pull [pull n.2 7], a chain used as the device for operating an electric switch; also attrib.; chain-pulley, a pulley having depressions in its periphery to fit the links of a chain with which it is worked; chain reaction, a chemical or nuclear reaction forming intermediate products which react with the original substance and are repeatedly renewed; also fig., any such self-maintaining process; hence chain-reacting adj.; chain-reflex Psychol., a series of reflexes in which each sets off the next; chain riveting (see quots.); chain road (see quot.); chain-rule, a rule of arithmetic, by which is found the relation of equivalence between two numbers for which a chain of intervening equivalents is given, as in Arbitration of Exchanges; chain-saw, (a) Surg., a vertebrated saw forming a chain, having hook and handle at either extremity; (b) see quots.; chain-sling (Naut.), a chain fitted to encircle a large article, for hoisting or lowering; chain-smith, a mechanic whose trade is to make chains; chain-smoker [tr. G. kettenraucher] (see quot. 1890 and sense 4 c); hence chain-smoke v. trans. and intr., chain-smoking vbl. n. and ppl. a.; chain-snake, a species of lizard, allied to the Slow-worm; chain store orig. U.S., one of a series of stores belonging to one firm and dealing in the same class of goods; chain-syllogism = chain-argument; chain-timber = chain-bond; chain-towing, a system of towing vessels in rivers, etc., by means of a chain or cable lying along the bed of the river which is wound over a drum on board the vessel; chain-well = chain-locker; chain-wheel, (a) a wheel used with a chain for the transmission of power; (b) a machine for utilizing water-power, which is an inversion of the chain-pump, the descending water pressing upon the plates or buckets and so driving the machinery; chain wire Paper-making (see quot.). Also in the names of various appliances of which a chain is an important part. Also chainbridge, -cable, -pump, etc.
1860Abp. Thomson Laws Th. 200 The German title [for Sorites] *chain-argument (Kettenschluss).
a1797Walpoliana xv. 9 The *chain, or ring armour was that used in the Middle Ages. 1851H. Melville Whale xlv. 293 The dolphin was drawn in chain-armor like Saladin's.
1902Westm. Gaz. 29 Dec. 3/3 These glasses..can easily be carried in the modish silver or gold *chain-bag along with the handkerchief.
1736in Cal. Virginia St. Papers (1875) I. 226 We do..appoint you James Thomas junr, Surveyor,..To take three *Chain-bearers. 1798Let. in Deb. Congress 1808 (1852) 2741 You will see I have omitted taking those [depositions] of Mr. Gillespie and the chain-bearers. 1869Overland Monthly III. 248 The chain-bearers signaling to those holding the ropes.
1794W. Felton Carriages (1801) I. 217 The *chain-belt is a contrivance to fix round the trunk, which it locks to the platform.
1794Rigging & Sea. I. 164 *Chain-boat, a large boat fitted with a davit over its stem, and two windlasses, one forward, and the other aft, in the inside. It is used for getting up mooring-chains, anchors, etc.
c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 105 *Chain-bolt, a large bolt to secure the chains of the dead-eyes, for the purpose of securing the mast by the shrouds. 1880Blackmore Erema xxii. (Hoppe) He..politely put the chain-bolt on the door when he retired to take advice.
1876Gwilt Archit. Gloss. s.v. Bond, The term *chain bond is sometimes applied to the bond timbers formerly placed in one or more tiers in the walls of each story of a building, and serving not only to tie the walls together during their settlement, but afterwards for nailing the finishings thereto.
1690J. Mackenzie Siege Londonderry 2/2 Some of their Clergy also..procured several *Chain-bridles to be made.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m., *Chain-brow Way, an underground inclined plane worked by an endless chain.
1636Heywood Challenge Beautie ii. Wks. 1874 V. 26 My friend and I Like two *chaine-bullets, side by side, will fly Thorow the jawes of death. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, cccv, Chaine-Bulletts of his will Run through all Streets, and in the Waft, they kill.
1702–3J. Logan Let. to Penn 3 Jan. in Corr. (1870) I. 174 Neither surveyors nor *chain-carriers will go thither. 1798U.S. Statutes I. 543 For compensation to the assistant surveyors, chain carriers, axe men and other persons. 1816U. Brown in Maryland Hist. Mag. XI. 220 This afternoon hunts up Chain Carriers and an Axman or marksman. 1838S. Lit. Messenger IV. 307 The surveyor and two of his chain-carriers were killed.
1798Let. in Deb. Congress 1808 (1852) 2739 The surveying at present is done by Mr. Gillespie, the *chain-carrying by Mr. Ellicott and Mr. Walker. 1909‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny vi. 93 I'll..go back to chain-carrying for the county surveyor.
1907Westm. Gaz. 9 Nov. 14/2 The Daimler Company..have designed their *chain-cases to act at the same time as radius-rods. 1909Ibid. 17 Nov. 5/2 Detachable oil-bath chain-cases.
1884S. B. Luce Seamanship 4 *Chain chests.
1808J. Parkinson Org. Rem. Former World II. 20 The *chain coral (Tubipora catenulata, Linn.) composed of parallel tubes. 1871Lyell Student's Elem. Geol. 449 The ‘chain-coral’, Halysites catenularius.
1895K. Meyer tr. Voy. Bran I. 81 [She had] a large *chain-dog with her.
1878Abney Photogr. 260 *Chain-dotted straight lines. 1931Engineering 16 Jan. 91/3 One of the ropes is indicated by chain-dotted lines in Fig. 1. 1967A. Battersby Network Analysis (ed. 2) iii. 40 Ladder activities can be strung together as shown in Fig. 3.15 to form a ladder diagram. The chain-dotted lines which connect them represent lead and lag times.
1903Daily Chron. 20 Apr. 7/2 The *chain-drive is infinitely superior to the belt. 1907Ibid. 17 Oct. 8/2 A 5 h.-p. twin-cylinder Roc, fitted with a Peugeot engine and chain drive. 1969Sears Catal. Spring/Summer 12 This automatic garage door opener... Boasts permanently lubricated 1/4-HP motor with center-mounted T-rail chain drive.
1887Bury & Hillier Cycling xiii. 353 *Chain-driven geared-up Safety bicycles. 1898Cycling 59 We do not anticipate that for serious riding it will oust the chain-driven safety. 1900Engineering Mag. XIX. 740 Chain-driven heavy freight vehicles. 1909Daily Chron. 22 Nov. 9/1 The new light Phelon and Moore is chain-driven.
1910Westm. Gaz. 17 Feb. 5/1 The 65-h.p. and 75-h.p. six-cylinder *chain-drivers.
1887Bury & Hillier Cycling xiii. 348 The successful use of the chain in tricycles opened the eyes of inventors to the possibilities which *chain-driving possessed for Safety machines.
1883Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships 22 Gammoning Fish..are..nailed on the upper part of the bowsprit, in the wake of the *chain gammoning.
1834Westm. Rev. July 47 *Chain gang... They are to wear chains and the yellow dress, with the word ‘felon’ stamped upon it in several places. 1858Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. II. lxxx. 37 How nearly the felon and the chain-gang are allied. 1882Harper's Mag. Dec. 49/1 Chain-gangs of convicts are brought out from the prison.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech., *Chain-gear. 1902Daily Chron. 5 Sept. 7/5 Another car stopped near Hickstead with a chain-gear mishap.
1896A. Sharp Bicycles & Tricycles xxvi. 422 The average speeds of two shafts connected by *chain gearing are inversely proportional to the numbers of teeth in the chain wheels. 1897Daily News 30 Oct. 5/2 A boy..got drawn into the chain-gearing of the wheels.
1893Funk's Stand. Dict., *Chain-gemma. 1900B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms, Chain-gemma, in Fungi, having the form of a septate confervoid filament, the segments of which are capable of growth; termed also sprout-gemma.
1889Cent. Dict., *Chain-grate, a feeding-device for furnaces. The fuel.. is slowly carried forward by an endless apron formed of cross⁓bars attached at each end to moving chains. These bars form the grate. 1930Engineering 7 Feb. 178/2 It would..be simpler to burn it on chain-grate stokers. Ibid. 21 Mar. 391/2 In chain grates..a zone of reducing gas..is apt to form immediately behind the bed of coal.
1870Rep. Comm. Agric. 1869 322 Only one patent was taken out during the year of the class known as ‘*chain’ harrows, i.e. composed entirely of iron chains, no beams whatever being employed. 1931Times 16 Mar. 17/2 The desirability of chain-harrowing the land. 1931Times Educ. Suppl. 28 Mar. 113/2 On stale pastures it is better to use chain harrows. Ibid., Each hour one can do three acres of zigzag harrowing or chain-harrowing. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Feb. 116/2 Then..chain harrow to level the surface.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 50 [The] *Chain Hook..[is] the hook fixed at each end of the chain to attach it to the fusee and the barrel.
1876Porcupine 22 Apr. 58/3, I have seen (when they have been carthorses) a chain put round their neck, and a *chain-horse hooked to it. 1906Westm. Gaz. 7 May 8/1 Now we have a request to establish a chain-horse on Surbiton-hill. 1955Times 11 May 14/4 He has been a navvy, chain horse boy and..a professional boxer and wrestler.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech., *Chain-inclinometer, a form of level in which the inclination of the surveyor's chain is indicated on a scale by the pointer on the end of the level.
1914W. McDougall Introd. Soc. Psychol. (ed. 8) 392 ‘*Chain instincts’, instincts each of which manifests itself in a chain of activities.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech., *Chain-knot. 1. A succession of loops on a cord, each loop in succession locking the one above it... 2. A kind of knot used in splicing. 3. The loop-stitch in some sewing-machines.
1578Richmond. Wills (1853) 279, Vij own. of *chean lace, viijs. vjd. 1598Florio, Cadenelle, little chaines, chaine-lace or chaine-stitch.
1906Daily Chron. 27 July 6/2 In 1896 Miss Audrey Griffin, of Hurstville, New South Wales initiated a ‘*chain letter’ with the object of obtaining 1,000,000 used postage stamps. 1940C. McCullers Heart is Lonely Hunter (1943) ii. xiii. 259 Think about chain letters. If one person sends a letter to ten people and then each of the ten people send letters to ten more—you get it? 1966S. Marcus Other Victorians ii. 35 Half the legends..can be traced, like the links of some bizarre chain letter, to their original source in these volumes.
1843Haliburton Attaché I. xv. 262 They hante no variety in them [sc. drinks] nother; no white-nose, apple-jack, stone-wall, *chain-lightning, [etc.]. 1882J. Parker Apost. Life I. 148 No man can report chain lightning. 1885Daily Tel. 28 Dec. 7/2 ‘Chain lightning’ [is] a strong foreign spirit.
1880Athenæum 10 Jan. 56 The position of the water-mark and the direction of the *chain-lines, which are uniformly the same in every sheet of laid paper. 1960Glaister Gloss. Bk. 63/2 Chain lines, the vertical lines on laid paper.
1883*Chain locker [see chain pipe].
1822Scott Nigel iii, ‘It's not made of iron, I wot, nor my claithes of *chenzie-mail.’ 1855Kingsley Heroes iv. 137 Clothed from head to foot in steel chain-mail.
1714W. Winthrop in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1892) V. 299 The survayer and *chainmen being under oath. 1862Smiles Engineers III. 157 Accompanied by an assistant and a chainman.
1923Handbk. Quality-Standard Papers (Amer. Writing Paper Co.) 370 *Chain mark, one of the wider parallel lines of a laid watermark. 1961T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 189/2 Chain marks due to its manufacture on a mould in which the wires are laid side by side rather than woven.
1883Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships 14 An iron band fitted with teeth.., which enters the long links of the *chain messenger in weighing anchor.
a1863Thackeray Misc. V. 359 (Hoppe) On the *chain-pier of Brighton.
1883Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships 12 Q. What are *chain pipes? A. Apertures through which chain cables pass from the chain lockers to the deck above.
1962Control Engin. Jan. 91/1 *Chain printers have their print characters molded on a continuous steel chain and a magnet-driven hammer presses the form being printed against the chain. 1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xi. 166 In some variations of the chain printer, the chain is replaced by another device, for example, a reciprocating type bar. 1979Sci. Amer. Jan. 105/1 (Advt.), Vertical and horizontal alignment is maintained to a precision usually found only in much more costly chain printers—within 0.005 inch in graphics mode.
1911Chambers's Jrnl. 17 June 475/1 Users of electric light..will be interested in a *chain-pull switch.
1945H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes ii. 22 To run a *chain-reacting system at a high temperature and to convert the heat generated to useful work is very much more difficult than to run a chain-reacting system at a low temperature. 1956A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 52 The idea of the plutonium bomb..gave military significance to the chain-reacting pile.
1926Chem. Abstr. XX. 2122 Photochemical equivalence and *chain reactions. 1938Ann. Reg. 1937 348 A chain reaction theory of excitation was put forward. 1938R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radio-activity (ed. 2) xxiv. 254 An elementary process may be immediately succeeded by a ‘chain reaction’, and then the amount of chemical change may be enormous. 1945Statements relating to Atomic Bomb (H.M.S.O.) 14 It was generally accepted that a chain reaction might be obtained in uranium which would yield enormous amounts of energy. 1947Sat. Even. Post 22 Mar. 140/3 If you publish a candid article about any community, giving actual names of people..you are..braving a chain reaction of lawsuits, riots and civil commotion. 1949Mind LVIII. 270 The ‘chain-reactions’ let loose by the breakdown of belief in absolutes. 1954Sci. News XXXII. 48 Polymerizations proceed as chain reactions, growth being propagated by activated molecules (free radicals).
1900J. Loeb Compar. Physiol. & Psychol. (1901) ix. 144, I am inclined to recommend using the word *chain-reflexes, whereby the performance of one reflex acts at the same time as the stimulus for setting free a second reflex. 1959Encycl. Brit. IV. 3/2 In a ‘chain-reflex’ the result of a foregoing reflex's execution is to evoke execution of the next succeeding one.
1888Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Engin., *Chain Riveting, rows of rivets placed in parallel lines, both in the longitudinal and transverse directions. 1895G. J. Burns Gloss. Techn. Terms Archit., Chain riveting, in this kind of riveting the rivets are placed in parallel rows in the direction of the stress, the rivets in adjacent rows being opposite each other.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m., *Chain Road, an underground wagon-way worked upon the endless chain system of haulage.
1846F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Surg. x. 184 You may use the ordinary or *chain-saw. 1862Med. Times II. 264 Plate of T. Matthew's chain-saw. 1909Webster, Chain saw,..a large saw for cutting coal, as one set with chisel points. 1957Gloss. Terms Stone in Build. (B.S.I.) 13 Chain saw, a power-driven saw consisting of a chain which has cutting tips attached to the links. 1958Times 18 Oct. 9/1 With a chain saw we can cut a cord of wood into logs in two Saturday afternoons.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxix. 402 Away went one of our *chain-slings, and she fell back.
1934Dylan Thomas Let. 25 Apr. (1966) 110 I've *chain-smoked for nearly five years. 1937Koestler Sp. Testament 303 Got into a rage and chain-smoked all seven cigarettes. 1957C. MacInnes City of Spades ii. xv. 203 Have a fag..I chain-smoke myself.
1890Review of Reviews I. 279/2 Bismarck is, or used to be, what the Germans call a *chain-smoker, that is to say, that he would smoke on and on an endless chain of cigars, lighting each from the ashes of its forerunner. 1930V. Sackville-West Edwardians i. 17 These parties..were like chain-smoking: each cigarette was lighted in the hope that it might be more satisfactory than the last. 1953Encounter Nov. 69/1 Only their very young, chain-smoking officer stared across the border.
1736Mortimer in Phil. Trans. XXXIX. 256 Anguis annulatus, the *Chain-Snake. 1789Morse Amer. Geogr. 61 Of the Snakes which infest the United States, are the following, viz...Chain [snake]. 1875Field & Forest I. 30, I observed..a reptile which proved to be the Chain, or Thunder snake (Ophibolus getulus).
1910Sat. Even. Post 10 Sept. 76/2 There were loud declarations of war from the manager of the association that buys goods for retail grocers fighting the *chain stores. 1922S. Lewis Babbitt iv. §5 One of these cash-and-carry chain-stores..cutting prices below cost. 1930Economist 4 Jan. 18/1 The company's expansion into the chain store business has been carried on at too rapid a rate. 1957J. I. M. Stewart Use of Riches i. 11 And what about the chain stores—the poor man's Army and Navy, the suburban housewife's Harrods?
1870Bowen Logic vii. 222 The complex abbreviated reasoning thus formed is called a *Chain-Syllogism, or Sorites.
1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 582 *Chain-timber, in brick building, a timber of large dimensions placed in the middle of the height of a story, for imparting strength.
1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 521/2 The *chain-towing system was first tried in France in 1732.
1845Athenæum 1 Feb. 118 The enormous chain and *chain-wheel for driving the screw.
1889Ibid. 30 Mar. 409 There are stout wires, about an inch apart, called ‘*chain wires’,..which run from top to bottom [of the mould].
▸ colloq. (chiefly N. Amer.). to pull (also yank, jerk) a person's chain: to tease or trick a person, usually by telling a lie; to antagonize or annoy a person.
1975Washington Post 15 Nov. b4/4 If he told you his elephant story anywhere but his own home, you might think, as he puts it, that he was ‘pulling your chain’. 1986K. Friedman Greenwich Killing Time (1987) xxxvi.150 Looks like somebody out there's sure trying to jerk our chain, doesn't it? 1996S. Eichler Murder can stunt your Growth ix. 66 Did he really have any, I wondered, or was he just pulling my chain? 2000N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 10 Dec. 32/3 What really yanks his chain is that the bad guys killed his loyal sidekick,..a Neapolitan mastiff.
▪ II. chain, v.|tʃeɪn|
Forms: 4–5 cheyne, chyne, 4–7 chayne, 5 cheyn-yn, 6 cheine, 6–7 chaine, 6– chain.
[f. prec. n. in various senses. French has chaîner only with the meaning ‘to measure with a chain’, but enchaîner is cited in Littré from the 11th c.; enchain barely appears in late ME.]
1. a. trans. To bind, fasten, secure, with a chain.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 287 Barre we þe ȝates. Cheke we and cheyne we. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 203 The rampant Beare chain'd to the ragged staffe. 1667Milton P.L. i. 210 The Arch-fiend lay Chain'd on the burning Lake. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits xii. Wks. (Bohn) II. 90 The books in Merton Library are still chained to the wall. 1882J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 305 He was chained to the stake.
b. transf. and fig.
138.Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 367 Whanne that riȝtwisnesse is cheyned to God and al his creaturis. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxvi. (1495) 135 The sholders ben nedefull to bynde and cheyne togyders the bones of the breste. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. i. i. 3 Wer't not affection chaines thy tender dayes To the sweet glaunces of thy honour'd Loue. 1795Southey Joan of Arc i. 215 A hair that chains to wretchedness The slave who dares not burst it. 1858J. Martineau Stud. Chr. 143 The mind given up to passion, or chained to self..dwells..in the dark and terrible abyss. 1876Trevelyan Macaulay II. ix. 131.
2. a. To fetter or confine with a chain or chains; to put in chains.
c1440York Myst. xxx. 212 We charge you þat chorle be wele chyned. c1440Promp. Parv. 72 Cheynyn or put yn cheynys, catheno. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 39, I will chayne these Legges and Armes of thine. c1850Arab. Nights (Rtldg.) 499 They chained him, and put handcuffs and fetters on him. 1850Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. x. 86 Buying men and women, and chaining them, like cattle!
b. fig. To fetter, confine, bind; to restrain.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. i. 192 Chastite wiþ-outen charite worth cheyned in helle. c1393Chaucer Mariage 14 But thilke doted foole..hath levere Y-cheyned [v.r. ychyned, ychayned] be, than out of prison crepe. c1440York Myst. xxxii. 278 The payment chenys þe with-all, The thar no nodir comenaunte craue. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 900 Or free that soul which wretchedness hath chain'd. 1634Milton Comus 660 If I but wave this wand, Your nerves are all chained up in alabaster. 1870L. Morris Epic Hades i. (1883) 53 Horror chained My parting footsteps. 1879Stainer Music of Bible 167 Until such a system came into existence music was chained up within the narrowest limits.
3. To obstruct or close with a chain.
1603Knolles Hist. Turks (J.), The admiral seeing the mouth of the haven chained..durst not attempt to enter. c1630Risdon Surv. Devon §192 (1810) 203 The haven is..chained over when need requireth. 1674in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 286 His new intended street..shall not be chained or obstructed against any of the towne.
†4. To surround like a chain; to embrace. Obs.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. viii. 14 Oh thou day o' th' world, Chaine mine arm'd necke.
5. To measure with a (surveyor's) chain. Also with out.
1610W. Folkingham Art Survey ii. v. 55 Extende lines from each station..(chayning the stationall line onely). 1816U. Brown in Maryland Hist. Mag. XI. 224 [But for the rain] I should Certainly have Caused this line on the river to have been Correctly run and Chain'd. 1845J. F. Cooper Chain-bearer xxv, You're welcome to chain out just as much of this part of the patent as you see fit.
6. To secure (a door) with the chain; absol. to ‘put on the chain’.
1839Dickens Nich. Nick. lvi, Ralph..chained the door to prevent the possibility of his returning secretly by means of his latch key. 1886Baring-Gould Crt. Royal I. v. 59 ‘Joanna..lock and chain after the gentleman.’
7. Arch. To bind (masonry) with a chain: cf. chain n. 10.
1842–75Gwilt Archit. ii. iii. §18. 962 A large number of steeples would..be found to have been well chained with timber or with metal.
8. Computing.
a. trans. To relate (a data item, record, etc.) to a successor by means of chaining (chaining vbl. n. 2); to order (a file, etc.) by means of chaining.
1962W. Buchholz Planning Computer Syst. iii. 29 The control word also contains a refill address which can specify the address of another control word. Control words can thus be chained together to define memory areas that are not adjacent. 1967G. H. Mealy in S. Rosen Programming Syst. & Lang. v. 556 Since entries in DICT do not usually appear in the order in which labels and principal pseudo-operations appear in the text, we need to chain these entries in the right order. 1969C. W. Gear Computer Organiz. & Programming viii. 338 If the entries are chained together in memory, the speed is not improved, but it is possible to remove entries from the chain without leaving blank entries in the table. 1983[see chain n. 5 i]. 1985Personal Computer World Feb. 150/1 Files held on the RAM file can be deleted, merged and chained.
b. intr. To lead or to be related to a successor in a chain (chain n. 5 i).
1969D. Lefkovitz File Structures for On-Line Syst. vii. 150 If this key in turn did not match, then it would chain to another list, and so forth. 1983Your Computer (Austral.) July 21/1 The pointer for the first customer's record is the number of his first order record in the order file. Its pointer, in turn, is set to the number of his second order, which in this case is the record in the order file. It, in turn, chains to the fifth record of the file. |