Acre vs. Chain — What's the Difference?

The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, 1⁄640 of a square mile, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare.

A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A chain may consist of two or more links.

A unit of area in the US Customary System, used in land and sea floor measurement and equal to 160 square rods, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet. See Table at measurement.

A series of linked metal rings used for fastening or securing something, or for pulling loads

Acres Property in the form of land; estate.

A sequence of items of the same type forming a line

(Archaic) A field or plot of arable land.

A jointed measuring line consisting of linked metal rods.

Often acres A wide expanse, as of land or other matter

A structure of planks projecting horizontally from a sailing ship's sides abreast of the masts, used to widen the basis for the shrouds.

An English unit of land area (symbol: a. or ac.) originally denoting a day's ploughing for a yoke of oxen, now standardized as 4,840 square yards or 4,046.86 square meters.

Fasten or secure with a chain

An area of 10,240 square yards or 4 quarters.

A connected, flexible series of links, typically of metal, used especially for holding objects together, for restraining, or for transmitting mechanical power.

Any of various similar units of area in other systems.

Such a set of links, often of precious metal and with pendants attached, worn as an ornament or symbol of office.

A wide expanse.

Often chains(Football) Such a set of links measuring ten yards and attached to a pole at each end, moved up and down the field to indicate necessary yardage for gaining a first down.

A large quantity.

A restraining or confining agent or force.

(obsolete) A field.

Bonds, fetters, or shackles.

(obsolete) The acre's breadth by the length, English units of length equal to the statute dimensions of the acre: 22 yds (≈20 m) by 220 yds (≈200 m).

Captivity or oppression; bondage

(obsolete) A duel fought between individual Scots and Englishmen in the borderlands.

A series of closely linked or connected things

Any field of arable or pasture land.

A number of establishments, such as stores, theaters, or hotels, under common ownership or management.

A piece of land, containing 160 square rods, or 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet. This is the English statute acre. That of the United States is the same. The Scotch acre was about 1.26 of the English, and the Irish 1.62 of the English.

A range of mountains.

A unit of area (4840 square yards) used in English-speaking countries

(Chemistry) A series of chemically bonded atoms, especially carbon atoms, which may be arranged in an open, branched, or cyclic structure.

A territory of western Brazil bordering on Bolivia and Peru

An instrument used in surveying, consisting of 100 linked pieces of iron or steel and measuring 66 feet (20.1 meters). Also called Gunter's chain.

A town and port in northwestern Israel in the eastern Mediterranean

A similar instrument used in engineering, measuring 100 feet (30.5 meters).

Abbr. ch A unit of measurement equal to the length of either of these instruments.

To bind or make fast with a chain or chains

To restrain or confine as if with chains

A series of interconnected rings or links usually made of metal.

A series of interconnected things.

A series of stores or businesses with the same brand name.

(chemistry) A number of atoms in a series, which combine to form a molecule.

(surveying) A series of interconnected links of known length, used as a measuring device.

(surveying) A long measuring tape.

A unit of length equal to 22 yards. The length of a Gunter's surveying chain. The length of a cricket pitch. Equal to 20.12 metres, 4 rods, or 100 links.

A totally ordered set, especially a totally ordered subset of a poset.

(British) A sequence of linked house purchases, each of which is dependent on the preceding and succeeding purchase (said to be "broken" if a buyer or seller pulls out).

That which confines, fetters, or secures; a bond.

Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.

A livery collar, a chain of office.

(weaving) The warp threads of a web.

(transitive) To fasten something with a chain.

(figurative) To connect as if with a chain, due to dependence, addiction, or other feelings

(intransitive) To link multiple items together.

(transitive) To secure someone with fetters.

(transitive) To obstruct the mouth of a river etc with a chain.

(figurative) To obligate.

(computing) To relate data items with a chain of pointers.

(computing) To be chained to another data item.

(transitive) To measure a distance using a 66-foot long chain, as in land surveying.

To load and automatically run (a program).

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.

That which confines, fetters, or secures, as a chain; a bond; as, the chains of habit.

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.

An instrument which consists of links and is used in measuring land.

Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.

The warp threads of a web.

To fasten, bind, or connect with a chain; to fasten or bind securely, as with a chain; as, to chain a bulldog.

To keep in slavery; to enslave.

To unite closely and strongly.

To measure with the chain.

To protect by drawing a chain across, as a harbor.

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

(chemistry) a series of linked atoms (generally in an organic molecule)

A series of (usually metal) rings or links fitted into one another to make a flexible ligament

A number of similar establishments (stores or restaurants or banks or hotels or theaters) under one ownership

Anything that acts as a restraint

A unit of length

British biochemist (born in Germany) who isolated and purified penicillin, which had been discovered in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming (1906-1979)

A series of hills or mountains;

Metal shackles; for hands or legs

A necklace made by a stringing objects together;

Connect or arrange into a chain by linking

Fasten or secure with chains;