A chain is a series of connected links which are typically made of metal.

Chain may also refer to:

Accessories and apparel

  • Chain mail, a type of armor made of interlocking chain links
  • Jewellery chain (or necklace), a type of jewelry which is worn around the neck

Arts, entertainment, and media

Films and television

  • Chains (film), a 1949 Italian melodrama film
  • Chains (Blackadder), a 1986 episode of the British sitcom Blackadder II
  • Chain (advertisement), a 1994 television advertisement for Guinness
  • Chains of Love (TV series), a 2001 American dating game show adapted from a Dutch television series
  • Chain (film), a 2004 film written and directed by Jem Cohen
  • Chains, a 2009 short film starring TNA wrestler Kurt Angle

Literature

  • Chains (play), a 1909 play by Elizabeth Baker
  • Chain (play), a 1992 play by Pearl Cleage
  • Chains (novel), a 2008 historical-fiction novel by Laurie Halse Anderson

Music

  • Chain (band), an Australian blues rock band active from the 1960s to the present

Albums

  • Chain (Paul Haig album), 1989
  • Chain (The Family Stand album), 1990
  • Chain (Pylon album), 1990
  • Chains (album), by Yōko Oginome, 1997
  • Chain (Bonnie Pink EP), 2008
  • Chain (KAT-TUN album), 2012
  • Chain (NCT 127 EP), 2018

Songs

  • "Chains" (Cookies song), 1962, covered by The Beatles
  • "The Chain", a 1977 song by Fleetwood Mac
  • "Chains", a song by Chicago from the 1982 album Chicago 16
  • "Chains" (Patty Loveless song), 1990
  • "Chains" (Tina Arena song), 1994
  • "Chains" (DLT song), 1996
  • "Chain", a song by the Fire Theft from their 2003 self-titled album
  • "Chains" (Nick Jonas song), 2014
  • "Chains" (Usher song), 2015
  • "Chain", a song by His Boy Elroy

Business and economics

  • Chain (real estate), a group of buyers/sellers that are linked together
  • Chain of command, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed
  • Chain store, a retail shop outlets which share a brand and central management
  • Chained dollars, used to express real dollar amounts adjusted over time for inflation
  • Cinema chain, or movie chain
  • Cold chain, a temperature-controlled supply chain
  • Fast food chain
  • Hotel chain
  • Restaurant chain
  • Supply chain, a coordinated system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer
  • Value chain, a management concept first described by Michael Porter

Mathematics

  • Chain (ordered set), a totally ordered set, usually a subset of a given partially ordered set
  • Chain (algebraic topology), a formal linear combination of k-simplices
  • Chain complex, a generalization of the algebraic topology construct to homological algebra
  • Chain rule, a tool for differentiation in calculus
  • Chain sequence, numbers in the mathematical study of continued fractions
  • Conway chained arrow notation, a way of expressing exponents using arrows
  • Jordan chain, a sequence of linearly independent generalized eigenvectors of descending rank
  • Markov chain, a discrete-time stochastic process with the Markov property
  • Pseudo-arc, which has at its heart the concept of a chain

Measurement

  • Chain (unit), a unit of length
  • Gunter's chain, measuring instrument
  • New York City Subway chaining, method to specify locations along the New York City Subway lines

Mechanics, engineering, and implements

  • Bar-link chain (or block chain), a mechanical drive chain
  • Bicycle chain, a roller chain that transfers power from the pedals to the drive-wheel of a bicycle
  • Buffers and chain coupler, a railway device
  • Catenary (or chain), the shape of a hanging flexible cable when supported at its ends and acted upon by a uniform gravitational force
  • Chain Home and Chain Home Low, early British RDF (radar) systems of the WWII era
  • Chain tool, a small mechanical device used to "break" a bicycle chain in such a way that it could be mended with the same tool
  • Conveyor chain, a chain that conveys items in chain conveyor systems
  • Drive chain, a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another
  • Print chain on a chain printer
  • Roller chain, most commonly used for transmission of mechanical power
  • Self-lubricating chain, to eliminate the need for further lubrication
  • Snow chains or tire chains, devices fitted to the tires of vehicles to provide maximum traction
  • Timing chain, part of an internal combustion engine

People with the name

  • Ernst Chain (1906–1979), Nobel Prize–winning chemist famed for his isolation of penicillin
  • John T. Chain Jr. (1934–2021), retired U.S. Air Force general

Places

  • Chain Bridge (Budapest), a suspension bridge that spans River Danube between Buda and Pest
  • Chain Bridge (Potomac River), a bridge across the Potomac River at Little Falls in Washington, D.C.
  • Chains (geological site), a geological site on the north-west plateau of Exmoor, Somerset, England
  • Union Chain Bridge, a bridge between Northumberland, England and Berwickshire, Scotland

Science

Chemistry

  • Catenation, the bonding of atoms of the same element in a series, or chain
  • Polymer chain, structure of a polymer
  • Chain reaction, a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions
  • Ideal chain, a mathematical model of polymer folding
  • Worm-like chain, a model in polymer physics used to describe the behavior of semi-flexible polymers

Other uses in science

  • Electron transport chain, a sequence of chemical reactions yielding the transport of an electron through a membrane
  • Food chain, a hierarchical or recursive list of predators and prey

Sequences

Geological features

  • Archipelago, a chain of islands
  • Crater chain, a line of craters on the surface of an astronomical body
  • Mountain range, a chain of hills or mountains

Other sequences

  • Chain bridge, type of suspension bridge
  • Chain crew, crew that manages signal poles in gridiron football
  • Chain gang, group of prisoners chained together as a form of punishment
  • Chain letter, a message that attempts to induce the recipient to make a number of copies of the message and then pass them on to one or more new recipients
  • Chain of events, a number of actions and their effects that are linked together
  • Chain smoking, practice of smoking several cigarettes/cigars in succession
  • Chain stitch, in sewing and embroidery, a series of looped stitches that form a chain
  • Chaining, a technique from applied behavioral analysis for teaching complicated tasks by breaking them into simpler steps
  • Hudson River Chains, one of several chains used in blockades of the Hudson River
  • Human chain (politics), a form of protest
  • Signifying chain, in semiotics, an interlocking system of signifiers

Other uses

  • Chain (caste), a cultivating and fishing caste found in India
  • Chains (nautical), small platforms on the sides of ships
  • Fetter (Buddhism) (mental chain), a deeply rooted mental attachment preventing one from achieving liberation from suffering

See also

  • CHAIN (disambiguation)
  • The Chain (disambiguation)
  • Chain of Ponds (disambiguation)
  • Chain of thought (disambiguation)
  • Chained (disambiguation)
  • Chane (disambiguation)
  • Daisy chain (disambiguation)
  • Serial (disambiguation)