chain
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 →
2) A chain is a row of things joined or following one another, like a chain of islands or a food chain. tree →
3) A chain is a group of shops or hotels with the same name. tree →
4) To chain is to tie up with a chain. tree →
5) A chain gang is a group of prisoners who are chained together while they work. tree →
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 →
- She adds 5 links each day. tree →
- Each link is 2 cm long. tree →
- How long is a chain of 10 links? tree →
- Grass, rabbit, fox: that is a food chain. tree →
- He chained his bike to the fence. tree →
- She wears a gold chain around her neck. tree →
- The shop is part of a big chain. tree →
- Hold hands to make a human chain. tree →
- One fall started a chain reaction of dominoes. tree →
- "He isn't chained up yet," said Johnnie. tree →
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.
- The Rat's chain: a clean metal cut → a door-scraper → a door-mat → a door.
- There they find Taffy making daisy-chains and Tegumai happily spearing small carp with his mended spear.
- Carbon atoms can link into long chains and rings, which is how huge molecules like sugar, wood and DNA are built.
- Leave a bike out in the rain all winter and its chain and bolts turn orange-brown and flaky.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «chain» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.