String vs. Chain — What's the Difference?

Material made of drawn-out, twisted fiber, used for fastening, tying, or lacing.

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 strand or cord of such material.

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

A cord stretched on an instrument and struck, plucked, or bowed to produce tones.

A sequence of items of the same type forming a line

Strings The section of a band or orchestra composed of stringed instruments, especially violins, violas, cellos, and double basses.

A jointed measuring line consisting of linked metal rods.

Strings Stringed instruments or their players considered as a group.

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

Something resembling a string or appearing as a long, thin line

Fasten or secure with a chain

A plant fiber.

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

(Physics) One of the extremely minute objects that form the basis of string theory.

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

A set of objects threaded together or attached on a string

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 number of objects arranged in a line

A restraining or confining agent or force.

(Computers) A set of consecutive characters.

Bonds, fetters, or shackles.

A series of similar or related acts, events, or items

Captivity or oppression; bondage

A set of animals, especially racehorses, belonging to a single owner; a stable.

A series of closely linked or connected things

A scattered group of businesses under a single ownership or management

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

A group of players ranked according to ability within a team

A range of mountains.

A complete game consisting of ten frames in bowling.

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

A stringboard.

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 stringcourse.

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

(Games) The balk line in billiards.

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

(Informal) A limiting or hidden condition. Often used in the plural

To bind or make fast with a chain or chains

To fit or furnish with strings or a string

To restrain or confine as if with chains

To stretch out or extend

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

To thread on a string

A series of interconnected things.

To arrange in a line or series

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

To fasten, tie, or hang with a string or strings

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

To strip (vegetables) of fibers.

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

To extend or progress in a string, line, or succession

(surveying) A long measuring tape.

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

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.

(uncountable) Such a structure considered as a substance.

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

(countable) A thread

(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).

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

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

(musical instrument) A segment of wire (typically made of plastic or metal) or other material used as vibrating element on a musical instrument.

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

(sports) A length of nylon or other material on the head of a racquet.

A livery collar, a chain of office.

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.

(weaving) The warp threads of a web.

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

(transitive) To fasten something with a chain.

(countable) A series of items or events.

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

(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.

(intransitive) To link multiple items together.

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

(transitive) To secure someone with fetters.

(collective) A drove of horses, or a group of racehorses kept by one owner or at one stable.

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

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

(figurative) To obligate.

A stringed instrument.

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

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

(computing) To be chained to another data item.

The conditions and limitations in a contract collectively.

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

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

To load and automatically run (a program).

(slang) Cannabis or marijuana.

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.

(billiards) 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.

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

The buttons strung on a wire by which the score is kept.

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.

The points made in a game of billiards.

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

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.

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

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

The warp threads of a web.

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

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

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

To keep in slavery; to enslave.

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

To unite closely and strongly.

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

To measure with the chain.

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

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

(architecture) A stringcourse.

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

A hoax; a fake story.

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

Synonym of stable

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

(oil drilling) A column of drill pipe that transmits drilling fluid (via the mud pumps) and torque (via the kelly drive or top drive) to the drill bit.

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

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

Anything that acts as a restraint

(transitive) To put strings on (something).

A unit of length

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

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

To drive the ball against the end of the table and back, in order to determine which player is to open the game.

A series of hills or mountains;

(birdwatching) To deliberately state that a certain bird is present when it is not; to knowingly mislead other birders about the occurrence of a bird, especially a rarity; to misidentify a common bird as a rare species.

Metal shackles; for hands or legs

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.

A necklace made by a stringing objects together;

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.

Connect or arrange into a chain by linking

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

Fasten or secure with chains;

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.

The line or cord of a bow.

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

A nerve or tendon of an animal body.

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

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.

A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.

Same as Stringcourse.

The points made in a game.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

To make tense; to strengthen.

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

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

A lightweight cord

Stringed instruments that are played with a bow;

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

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

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

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

A collection of objects threaded on a single strand

A necklace made by a stringing objects together;

Thread on or as if on a string;

Add as if on a string;

Move or come along

Stretch out or arrange like a string

String together; tie or fasten with a string;

Remove the stringy parts of;

Provide with strings;