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# chain

«chain» in Mova's school dictionary: **a row of metal rings, called links, joined together** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (chain, chains); verb (chain, chains, chained, chaining)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A chain is a row of metal rings, called links, joined together. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#m1)

2) A chain is a row of things joined or following one another, like a chain of islands or a food chain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#m2)

3) A chain is a group of shops or hotels with the same name. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#m3)

4) To chain is to tie up with a chain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#m4)

5) A chain gang is a group of prisoners who are chained together while they work. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

links counted, or a length; sometimes a series of steps; in science, a food chain shows who eats whom; phrases «food chain», «paper chain», «chain reaction», «bike chain», «chain store»

### examples

- A paper chain has 40 links. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x1)
- She adds 5 links each day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x2)
- Each link is 2 cm long. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x3)
- How long is a chain of 10 links? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x4)
- Grass, rabbit, fox: that is a food chain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x5)
- He chained his bike to the fence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x6)
- She wears a gold chain around her neck. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x7)
- The shop is part of a big chain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x8)
- Hold hands to make a human chain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x9)
- One fall started a chain reaction of dominoes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x10)
- "He isn't chained up yet," said Johnnie. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/#x11)

### note

Total length = links × length of each. Trap: a chain closed in a circle may join ends, so the number of joins equals the links. A food chain starts with a plant.

### In the corpora

- [Chains of "she said" twist the truth; ask the person yourself.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/49-how-to-handle-gossip/15/)
- [The Rat's chain: a clean metal cut → a door-scraper → a door-mat → a door.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/36-willows-ch3-part4-the-door-scraper/35/)
- [There they find Taffy making daisy-chains and Tegumai happily spearing small carp with his mended spear.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/85-justso-first-letter-2-the-whole-tribe-comes/9/)
- [Carbon atoms can link into long chains and rings, which is how huge molecules like sugar, wood and DNA are built.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/3-molecules-when-atoms-join-up/19/)
- [Leave a bike out in the rain all winter and its chain and bolts turn orange-brown and flaky.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/13-rust-irons-slow-fire/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «chain» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chain/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.