String vs. Chain

Stringnoun

(countable) A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together.

Chainnoun

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

‘He wore a gold chain around the neck.’;

Stringnoun

(uncountable) Such a structure considered as a substance.

Chainnoun

A series of interconnected things.

‘a chain of mountains’; ‘a chain of ideas, one leading to the next’; ‘This led to an unfortunate chain of events.’;

Stringnoun

(countable) Any similar long, thin and flexible object.

‘a violin string’; ‘a bowstring’;

Chainnoun

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

‘That chain of restaurants is expanding into our town.’;

Stringnoun

A thread or cord on which a number of objects or parts are strung or arranged in close and orderly succession; hence, a line or series of things arranged on a thread, or as if so arranged.

‘a string of shells or beads; a string of sausages’;

Chainnoun

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

‘When examined, the molecular chain included oxygen and hydrogen.’;

Stringnoun

(countable) A cohesive substance taking the form of a string.

‘The string of spittle dangling from his chin was most unattractive’;

Chainnoun

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

Stringnoun

(countable) A series of items or events.

‘a string of successes’;

Chainnoun

(surveying) A long measuring tape.

Stringnoun

(countable) The members of a sports team or squad regarded as most likely to achieve success. (Perhaps metaphorical as the "strings" that hold the squad together.) Often first string, second string etc.

Chainnoun

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.

Stringnoun

(countable) In various games and competitions, a certain number of turns at play, of rounds, etc.

Chainnoun

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

Stringnoun

A group of racehorses kept at one track.

Chainnoun

(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).

Stringnoun

An ordered sequence of text characters stored consecutively in memory and capable of being processed as a single entity.

Chainnoun

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

‘the chains of habit’;

Stringnoun

A stringed instrument.

Chainnoun

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

Stringnoun

The stringed instruments as a section of an orchestra, especially those played by a bow, or the persons playing those instruments.

Chainnoun

(weaving) The warp threads of a web.

Stringnoun

(in the plural) The conditions and limitations in a contract collectively.

‘no strings attached’;

Chainverb

(transitive) To fasten something with a chain.

Stringnoun

The main object of study in string theory, a branch of theoretical physics.

Chainverb

(intransitive) To link multiple items together.

Stringnoun

(slang) Cannabis or marijuana.

Chainverb

(transitive) To secure someone with fetters.

Stringnoun

Part of the game of billiards, where the order of the play is determined by testing who can get a ball closest to the bottom rail by shooting it onto the end rail.

Chainverb

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

Stringnoun

The points made in a game of billiards.

Chainverb

(figurative) To obligate.

Stringnoun

The line from behind and over which the cue ball must be played after being out of play, as by being pocketed or knocked off the table; also called the string line.

Chainverb

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

Stringnoun

A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.

Chainverb

(computing) To be chained to another data item.

Stringnoun

(archaic) A fibre, as of a plant; a little fibrous root.

Chainverb

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

Stringnoun

(archaic) A nerve or tendon of an animal body.

Chainverb

}} To load and automatically run (a program).

Stringnoun

(shipbuilding) An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.

Chainnoun

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.’;

Stringnoun

(botany) The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericarp of leguminous plants.

‘the strings of beans’;

Chainnoun

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

‘Driven downTo chains of darkness and the undying worm.’;

Stringnoun

(mining) A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.

Chainnoun

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.

Stringnoun

(architecture) A stringcourse.

Chainnoun

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

Stringnoun

A hoax; a fake story.

Chainnoun

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

Stringverb

(transitive) To put (items) on a string.

‘You can string these beads on to this cord to make a colorful necklace.’;

Chainnoun

The warp threads of a web.

Stringverb

(transitive) To put strings on (something).

‘It is difficult to string a tennis racket properly.’;

Chainverb

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

‘Chained behind the hostile car.’;

Stringverb

(intransitive) To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.

Chainverb

To keep in slavery; to enslave.

‘And which more blest? who chained his country, sayOr he whose virtue sighed to lose a day?’;

Stringnoun

A small cord, a line, a twine, or a slender strip of leather, or other substance, used for binding together, fastening, or tying things; a cord, larger than a thread and smaller than a rope; as, a shoe string; a bonnet string; a silken string.

‘Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string.’;

Chainverb

To unite closely and strongly.

‘And in this vow do chain my soul to thine.’;

Stringnoun

A thread or cord on which a number of objects or parts are strung or arranged in close and orderly succession; hence, a line or series of things arranged on a thread, or as if so arranged; a succession; a concatenation; a chain; as, a string of shells or beads; a string of dried apples; a string of houses; a string of arguments.

Chainverb

To measure with the chain.

Stringnoun

A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.

Chainverb

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

Stringnoun

The cord of a musical instrument, as of a piano, harp, or violin; specifically (pl.), the stringed instruments of an orchestra, in distinction from the wind instruments; as, the strings took up the theme.

‘Me softer airs befit, and softer stringsOf lute, or viol still.’;

Chainnoun

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

‘the chain of command’; ‘a complicated concatenation of circumstances’;

Stringnoun

The line or cord of a bow.

‘He twangs the grieving string.’;

Chainnoun

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

Stringnoun

A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root.

‘Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom.’;

Chainnoun

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

Stringnoun

A nerve or tendon of an animal body.

‘The string of his tongue was loosed.’;

Chainnoun

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

Stringnoun

An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.

Chainnoun

anything that acts as a restraint

Stringnoun

The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericap of leguminous plants, and which is readily pulled off; as, the strings of beans.

Chainnoun

a unit of length

Stringnoun

A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.

Chainnoun

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

Stringnoun

Same as Stringcourse.

Chainnoun

a series of hills or mountains;

‘the valley was between two ranges of hills’; ‘the plains lay just beyond the mountain range’;

Stringnoun

The points made in a game.

Chainnoun

metal shackles; for hands or legs

Stringnoun

In various indoor games, a score or tally, sometimes, as in American billiard games, marked by buttons threaded on a string or wire.

Chainnoun

a necklace made by a stringing objects together;

‘a string of beads’; ‘a strand of pearls’;

Stringnoun

The line from behind and over which the cue ball must be played after being out of play as by being pocketed or knocked off the table; - called also string line.

Chainverb

connect or arrange into a chain by linking

Stringnoun

A hoax; a trumped-up or "fake" story.

Chainverb

fasten or secure with chains;

‘Chain the chairs together’;

Stringnoun

a sequence of similar objects or events sufficiently close in time or space to be perceived as a group; a string of accidents; a string of restaurants on a highway.

Chainnoun

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

‘the drug dealer is being kept in chains’; ‘he slid the bolts on the front door and put the safety chain across’;

Stringnoun

A one-dimensional string-like mathematical object used as a means of representing the properties of fundamental particles in string theory, one theory of particle physics; such hypothetical objects are one-dimensional and very small (10-33 cm) but exist in more than four spatial dimensions, and have various modes of vibration. Considering particles as strings avoids some of the problems of treating particles as points, and allows a unified treatment of gravity along with the other three forces (electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force) in a manner consistent with quantum mechanics. See also string theory.

Chainnoun

a decorative chain worn round the neck as jewellery or as a badge of office

‘a tall man with a heavy gold chain round his neck’;

Stringverb

To furnish with strings; as, to string a violin.

‘Has not wise nature strung the legs and feetWith firmest nerves, designed to walk the street?’;

Chainnoun

a restrictive force or factor

‘workers secured by the chains of the labour market’;

Stringverb

To put in tune the strings of, as a stringed instrument, in order to play upon it.

‘For here the Muse so oft her harp has strung,That not a mountain rears its head unsung.’;

Chainnoun

a sequence of items of the same type forming a line

‘he kept the chain of buckets supplied with water’;

Stringverb

To put on a string; to file; as, to string beads.

Chainnoun

a series of connected elements

‘the action would initiate a chain of events’;

Stringverb

To make tense; to strengthen.

‘Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood.’;

Chainnoun

a connected series of mountains

‘a mountain chain’;

Stringverb

To deprive of strings; to strip the strings from; as, to string beans. See String, n., 9.

Chainnoun

a group of hotels, restaurants, or shops owned by the same company

‘a chain restaurant’; ‘the agency is part of a nationwide chain’;

Stringverb

To hoax; josh; jolly; often used with along; as, we strung him along all day until he realized we were kidding.

Chainnoun

a situation in which the sale of a house or flat is dependent on the prospective buyer selling their own or the seller buying another first

‘our offer was accepted this morning and there's no chain’;

Stringverb

To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.

Chainnoun

a part of a molecule consisting of a number of atoms bonded together in a linear sequence.

Stringnoun

a lightweight cord

Chainnoun

a figure in a quadrille or similar dance, in which dancers meet and pass each other in a continuous sequence.

Stringnoun

stringed instruments that are played with a bow;

‘the strings played superlatively well’;

Chainnoun

a jointed measuring line consisting of linked metal rods.

Stringnoun

a tightly stretched cord of wire or gut, which makes sound when plucked, struck, or bowed

Chainnoun

a measure of length equivalent to a chain (66 ft).

Stringnoun

a sequentially ordered set of things or events or ideas in which each successive member is related to the preceding;

‘a string of islands’; ‘train of mourners’; ‘a train of thought’;

Chainnoun

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

Stringnoun

a linear sequence of symbols (characters or words or phrases)

Chainverb

fasten or secure with a chain

‘she chained her bicycle to the railings’;

Stringnoun

a tie consisting of a cord that goes through a seam around an opening;

‘he pulled the drawstring and closed the bag’;

Chainverb

confine with a chain

‘he had been chained up’; ‘as an actuary you will not be chained to a desk’;

Stringnoun

a collection of objects threaded on a single strand

Chain

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.

Stringnoun

a necklace made by a stringing objects together;

‘a string of beads’; ‘a strand of pearls’;

Stringverb

thread on or as if on a string;

‘string pearls on a string’; ‘the child drew glass beads on a string’; ‘thread dried cranberries’;

Stringverb

add as if on a string;

‘string these ideas together’; ‘string up these songs and you'll have a musical’;

Stringverb

move or come along

Stringverb

stretch out or arrange like a string

Stringverb

string together; tie or fasten with a string;

‘string the package’;

Stringverb

remove the stringy parts of;

‘string beans’;

Stringverb

provide with strings;

‘string my guitar’;