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chain

more about chain

chain


  7  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
 
 
  {Pattern  box},  {chain},  or  {cylinder}  (Figure  Weaving), 
  devices,  in  a  loom,  for  presenting  several  shuttles  to  the 
  picker  in  the  proper  succession  for  forming  the  figure. 
 
  {Pattern  card}. 
  a  A  set  of  samples  on  a  card. 
  b  (Weaving)  One  of  the  perforated  cards  in  a  Jacquard 
  apparatus. 
 
  {Pattern  reader},  one  who  arranges  textile  patterns. 
 
  {Pattern  wheel}  (Horology),  a  count-wheel. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Chain  \Chain\,  n.  [F.  cha[^i]ne,  fr  L.  catena.  Cf  {Catenate}.] 
  1.  A  series  of  links  or  rings,  usually  of  metal,  connected, 
  or  fitted  into  one  another,  used  for  various  purposes,  as 
  of  support,  of  restraint,  of  ornament,  of  the  exertion  and 
  transmission  of  mechanical  power,  etc 
 
  [They]  put  a  chain  of  gold  about  his  neck.  --Dan.  v. 
  29. 
 
  2.  That  which  confines,  fetters,  or  secures,  as  a  chain;  a 
  bond;  as  the  chains  of  habit. 
 
  Driven  down  To  chains  of  darkness  and  the  undying 
  worm.  --Milton. 
 
  3.  A  series  of  things  linked  together;  or  a  series  of  things 
  connected  and  following  each  other  in  succession;  as  a 
  chain  of  mountains;  a  chain  of  events  or  ideas. 
 
  4.  (Surv.)  An  instrument  which  consists  of  links  and  is  used 
  in  measuring  land. 
 
  Note:  One  commonly  in  use  is  Gunter's  chain,  which  consists 
  of  one  hundred  links,  each  link  being  seven  inches  and 
  ninety-two  one  hundredths  in  length;  making  up  the 
  total  length  of  rods,  or  sixty-six,  feet;  hence  a 
  measure  of  that  length;  hence  also  a  unit  for  land 
  measure  equal  to  four  rods  square,  or  one  tenth  of  an 
  acre. 
 
  5.  pl  (Naut.)  Iron  links  bolted  to  the  side  of  a  vessel  to 
  bold  the  dead-eyes  connected  with  the  shrouds;  also  the 
  channels. 
 
  6.  (Weaving)  The  warp  threads  of  a  web.  --Knight. 
 
  {Chain  belt}  (Mach.),  a  belt  made  of  a  chain;  --  used  for 
  transmitting  power. 
 
  {Chain  boat},  a  boat  fitted  up  for  recovering  lost  cables, 
  anchors,  etc 
 
  {Chain  bolt} 
  a  (Naut.)  The  bolt  at  the  lower  end  of  the  chain  plate, 
  which  fastens  it  to  the  vessel's  side 
  b  A  bolt  with  a  chain  attached  for  drawing  it  out  of 
  position. 
 
  {Chain  bond}.  See  {Chain  timber}. 
 
  {Chain  bridge},  a  bridge  supported  by  chain  cables;  a 
  suspension  bridge. 
 
  {Chain  cable},  a  cable  made  of  iron  links. 
 
  {Chain  coral}  (Zo["o]l.),  a  fossil  coral  of  the  genus 
  {Halysites},  common  in  the  middle  and  upper  Silurian 
  rocks.  The  tubular  corallites  are  united  side  by  side  in 
  groups,  looking  in  an  end  view  like  links  of  a  chain.  When 
  perfect,  the  calicles  show  twelve  septa. 
 
  {Chain  coupling}. 
  a  A  shackle  for  uniting  lengths  of  chain,  or  connecting 
  a  chain  with  an  object. 
  b  (Railroad)  Supplementary  coupling  together  of  cars 
  with  a  chain. 
 
  {Chain  gang},  a  gang  of  convicts  chained  together. 
 
  {Chain  hook}  (Naut.),  a  hook,  used  for  dragging  cables  about 
  the  deck. 
 
  {Chain  mail},  flexible,  defensive  armor  of  hammered  metal 
  links  wrought  into  the  form  of  a  garment. 
 
  {Chain  molding}  (Arch.),  a  form  of  molding  in  imitation  of  a 
  chain,  used  in  the  Normal  style. 
 
  {Chain  pier},  a  pier  suspended  by  chain. 
 
  {Chain  pipe}  (Naut.),  an  opening  in  the  deck,  lined  with 
  iron,  through  which  the  cable  is  passed  into  the  lockers 
  or  tiers. 
 
  {Chain  plate}  (Shipbuilding),  one  of  the  iron  plates  or 
  bands,  on  a  vessel's  side  to  which  the  standing  rigging 
  is  fastened. 
 
  {Chain  pulley},  a  pulley  with  depressions  in  the  periphery  of 
  its  wheel,  or  projections  from  it  made  to  fit  the  links 
  of  a  chain. 
 
  {Chain  pumps}.  See  in  the  Vocabulary. 
 
  {Chain  rule}  (Arith.),  a  theorem  for  solving  numerical 
  problems  by  composition  of  ratios,  or  compound  proportion, 
  by  which  when  several  ratios  of  equality  are  given  the 
  consequent  of  each  being  the  same  as  the  antecedent  of  the 
  next  the  relation  between  the  first  antecedent  and  the 
  last  consequent  is  discovered. 
 
  {Chain  shot}  (Mil.),  two  cannon  balls  united  by  a  shot  chain, 
  formerly  used  in  naval  warfare  on  account  of  their 
  destructive  effect  on  a  ship's  rigging. 
 
  {Chain  stitch}.  See  in  the  Vocabulary. 
 
  {Chain  timber}.  (Arch.)  See  {Bond  timber},  under  {Bond}. 
 
  {Chain  wales}.  (Naut.)  Same  as  {Channels}. 
 
  {Chain  wheel}.  See  in  the  Vocabulary. 
 
  {Closed  chain},  {Open  chain}  (Chem.),  terms  applied  to  the 
  chemical  structure  of  compounds  whose  rational  formul[ae] 
  are  written  respectively  in  the  form  of  a  closed  ring  (see 
  {Benzene  nucleus},  under  {Benzene}),  or  in  an  open 
  extended  form 
 
  {Endless  chain},  a  chain  whose  ends  have  been  united  by  a 
  link. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Chain  \Chain\,  v.  t.  [imp.  p.  p.  {Chained}  (ch[=a]nd);  p.  pr  & 
  vb  n.  {Chaining}.] 
  1.  To  fasten,  bind,  or  connect  with  a  chain;  to  fasten  or 
  bind  securely,  as  with  a  chain;  as  to  chain  a  bulldog. 
 
  Chained  behind  the  hostile  car  --Prior. 
 
  2.  To  keep  in  slavery;  to  enslave. 
 
  And  which  more  blest?  who  chained  his  country,  say 
  Or  he  whose  virtue  sighed  to  lose  a  day?  --Pope. 
 
  3.  To  unite  closely  and  strongly. 
 
  And  in  this  vow  do  chain  my  soul  to  thine.  --Shak. 
 
  4.  (Surveying)  To  measure  with  the  chain. 
 
  5.  To  protect  by  drawing  a  chain  across  as  a  harbor. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  chain 
  n  1:  a  series  of  things  depending  on  each  other  as  if  linked 
  together:  "the  chain  of  command";  "a  complicated 
  concatenation  of  circumstances"  [syn:  {concatenation}] 
  2:  a  series  of  linked  atoms  (generally  in  an  organic  molecule) 
  [syn:  {chemical  chain}] 
  3:  a  series  of  (usually  metal)  rings  or  links  fitted  into  one 
  another  to  make  a  flexible  ligament 
  4:  a  number  of  similar  establishments  (stores  or  restaurants  or 
  banks  or  hotels  or  theaters)  under  one  ownership 
  5:  anything  that  acts  as  a  restraint 
  6:  a  unit  of  length 
  7:  a  series  of  hills  or  mountains;  "the  valley  was  between  two 
  ranges  of  hills";  "the  plains  lay  just  beyond  the  mountain 
  range"  [syn:  {range},  {mountain  range},  {range  of 
  mountains},  {mountain  chain},  {chain  of  mountains}] 
  8:  metal  shackles;  for  hands  or  legs  [syn:  {iron},  {irons},  {chains}] 
  9:  a  necklace  made  by  a  stringing  objects  together;  "a  string 
  of  beads"  or  "a  strand  of  pearls"  [syn:  {string},  {strand}] 
  v  :  fasten  or  secure  with  chains;  "Chain  the  chairs  together" 
  [ant:  {unchain}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  chain  1.  vi  [orig.  from  BASIC's  `CHAIN'  statement]  To  hand 
  off  execution  to  a  child  or  successor  without  going  through  the  {OS} 
  command  interpreter  that  invoked  it  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  micros  and  is  still  widely  supported 
  for  backward  compatibility,  the  jargon  usage  is  semi-obsolescent; 
  in  particular,  most  Unix  programmers  will  think  of  this  as  an  {exec}. 
  Oppose  the  more  modern  `subshell'.  2.  n.  A  series  of  linked  data  areas 
  within  an  operating  system  or  application.  `Chain  rattling'  is  the 
  process  of  repeatedly  running  through  the  linked  data  areas  searching 
  for  one  which  is  of  interest  to  the  executing  program.  The  implication 
  is  that  there  is  a  very  large  number  of  links  on  the  chain. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  chain 
 
  1.    (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.    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.    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}). 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (1995-02-03) 
 
 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Chain 
  (1.)  A  part  of  the  insignia  of  office.  A  chain  of  gold  was 
  placed  about  Joseph's  neck  (Gen.  41:42);  and  one  was  promised  to 
  Daniel  (5:7).  It  is  used  as  a  symbol  of  sovereignty  (Ezek. 
  16:11).  The  breast-plate  of  the  high-priest  was  fastened  to  the 
  ephod  by  golden  chains  (Ex.  39:17,  21). 
 
  (2.)  It  was  used  as  an  ornament  (Prov.  1:9;  Cant.  1:10).  The 
  Midianites  adorned  the  necks  of  their  camels  with  chains  (Judg. 
  8:21,  26). 
 
  (3.)  Chains  were  also  used  as  fetters  wherewith  prisoners  were 
  bound  (Judg.  16:21;  2  Sam.  3:34;  2  Kings  25:7;  Jer.  39:7).  Paul 
  was  in  this  manner  bound  to  a  Roman  soldier  (Acts  28:20;  Eph. 
  6:20;  2  Tim.  1:16).  Sometimes  for  the  sake  of  greater  security, 
  the  prisoner  was  attached  by  two  chains  to  two  soldiers,  as  in 
  the  case  of  Peter  (Acts  12:6). 
 




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