Chain n.
 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.
 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 Zool., 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 formulæ 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.


 Cor·al n.
 1. Zool. The hard parts or skeleton of various Anthozoa, and of a few Hydrozoa. Similar structures are also formed by some Bryozoa.
 Note: ☞ The large stony corals forming coral reefs belong to various genera of Madreporaria, and to the hydroid genus, Millepora. The red coral, used in jewelry, is the stony axis of the stem of a gorgonian (Corallium rubrum) found chiefly in the Mediterranean. The fan corals, plume corals, and sea feathers are species of Gorgoniacea, in which the axis is horny. Organ-pipe coral is formed by the genus Tubipora, an Alcyonarian, and black coral is in part the axis of species of the genus Antipathes. See Anthozoa, Madrepora.
 2. The ovaries of a cooked lobster; -- so called from their color.
 3. A piece of coral, usually fitted with small bells and other appurtenances, used by children as a plaything.
 Brain coral, or Brain stone coral. See under Brain.
 Chain coral. See under Chain.
 Coral animal Zool., one of the polyps by which corals are formed. They are often very erroneously called coral insects.
 Coral fish. See in the Vocabulary.
 Coral reefs Phys. Geog., reefs, often of great extent, made up chiefly of fragments of corals, coral sands, and the solid limestone resulting from their consolidation. They are classed as fringing reefs, when they border the land; barrier reefs, when separated from the shore by a broad belt of water; atolls, when they constitute separate islands, usually inclosing a lagoon. See Atoll.
 Coral root Bot., a genus (Corallorhiza) of orchideous plants, of a yellowish or brownish red color, parasitic on roots of other plants, and having curious jointed or knotted roots not unlike some kinds of coral. See Illust. under Coralloid.
 Coral snake. Zo (a) A small, venomous, Brazilian snake (Elaps corallinus), coral-red, with black bands. (b) A small, harmless, South American snake (Tortrix scytale).
 Coral tree Bot., a tropical, leguminous plant, of several species, with showy, scarlet blossoms and coral-red seeds. The best known is Erythrina Corallodendron.
 Coral wood, a hard, red cabinet wood. --McElrath.

 ◄ ►


 Hal·y·si·tes n.  Paleon. A genus of Silurian fossil corals; the chain corals. See Chain coral, under Chain.

 ◄ ►