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chains

n · noun

Form of chain , plural of chain.

Simple meaning

"Chains" is a rhythm and blues song written by husband-and-wife songwriting team Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

chaynz
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈtʃeɪnz

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

n

  1. "Chains" is a rhythm and blues song written by husband-and-wife songwriting team Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

  2. "Chains" is the final episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603.

  3. "Chains" is a song written by Hal Bynum and Bud Reneau, and recorded by American country music artist Patty Loveless.

  4. "Chains" is a song by Australian singer Tina Arena from her third studio album, Don't Ask.

  5. The chains, also called the chain-wales or channels, p.164 were small platforms, built on either side of the hull of a ship, used to provide a wide purchase for the shrouds, and to assist in the practice of depth sounding.

  6. Catene (internationally released as Chains) is a 1949 Italian melodrama film directed by Raffaello Matarazzo.

noun

  1. Metal shackles; for hands or legs

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: "Chains" is a rhythm and blues song written by husband-and-wife songwriting team Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

Used this way, chains is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use chains

  • “The chains of habit.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Chains

side chainspolymer chains

Other combinations

food chainspolypeptide chainssupply chainsmountain chainslong chainsheavy chains

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • chainnounBase word

    A series of things depending on each other as if linked together.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • chain upverbRelated term

    Tie up with chains.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: metal shackles

ironironsDated

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.