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A rope or chain to confine the bowsprit of a ship downward to the stem or cutwater; -- usually in the pl.

binds, ties, fastens,or confines, or by which anything is fastened or bound, as a cord, chain, etc.; a band; a ligament; a shackle or a manacle. Gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder, I gained my freedom. Shak.

A strong chain cable, or line of spars bound together, extended across a river or the mouth of a harbor, to obstruct navigation or passage.

Restrained by a hand, rope, chain, fetters, or the like.

ain waters. Branches of a bridle, two pieces of bent iron, which bear the bit, the cross chains, and the curb. -- Branch herring. See Alewife. -- Root and branch , totally, wholly.

One of several spores growing in a series or chain, and produced by one of the fungi called brand.

t. [Obs.] And both his yën braste out of his face. Chaucer. Dreadfull furies which their chains have brast. Spenser.

To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock. Shak.

A seal or charm for a watch chain. "His chains and breloques." Thackeray.

A span of rope, line, or chain made fast as both ends, so that another rope, line, or chain may be attached to its middle.

f of title, an abstract or abridgment of all the deeds and other papers constituting the chain of title to any real estate. -- In brief, in a few words; in short; briefly. "Open the matter in brief." Shak.

Separated into parts or pieces by violence; divided into fragments; as, a broken chain or rope; a broken dish.

The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice. Butt chain (Saddlery), a short chain attached to the end of a tug. -- Butt end. The thicker end of anything. See But end, under 2d But. Amen; and make me die a good old man! That's the butt end of a mother's blessing. Shak. A butt's length,…

A large, strong rope or chain, of considerable length, used to retain a vessel at anchor, and for other purposes. It is made of hemp, of steel wire, or of iron links.

Twisted after the manner of a cable; as, a cable-laid gold chain. Simmonds.

A neck guard of chain mall, hanging from the bascinet or other headpiece.

ar; one kept in bondage or in the power of another. Then, when I am thy captive, talk of chains. Milton.

A jeweled chain, necklace, or collar. [Also written carkenet and carcant.] Shak.

A chain or series of things connected with each other. I have . . . in no case sought to construct those catenæ of games, which it seems now the fashion of commentators to link together. C. J. Ellicott.

The curve formed by a rope or chain of uniform density and perfect flexibility, hanging freely between two points of suspension, not in the same vertical line.