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A piece of armor, whether of chain mail or of plate, defending the throat and upper part of the breast, and forming a part of the double breastplate of the 14th century.

A chain or cord for fastening a watch to one's person or dress.

1-1626), a professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London, who invented also Gunter's chain, and Gunter's quadrant.

A rope, chain, or rod attached to anything to steady it; as: a rope to steady or guide an object which is being hoisted or lowered; a rope which holds in place the end of a boom, spar, or yard in a ship; a chain or wire rope connecting a suspension bridge with the land on either side to prevent lateral swaying; a rod o…

To fetter; to shackle; to chain. Spenser. I will gyve thee in thine own courtship. Shak.

A genus of Silurian fossil corals; the chain corals. See Chain coral, under Chain.

A fastening, consisting of an iron ring around the wrist, usually connected by a chain with one on the other wrist; a manacle; -- usually in the plural.

A cyma reversa; -- so called by workmen. Gwilt. Heel chain (Naut.), a chain passing from the bowsprit cap around the heel of the jib boom. -- Heel plate, the butt plate of a gun. -- Heel of a rafter. (Arch.) See Heel, n., 7. -- Heel ring, a ring for fastening a scythe blade to the snath. -- Neck and heels, the whol…

Of or pertaining to the Himalayas, the great mountain chain in Hindostan.

- To go off the hooks, to die. [Colloq.] Thackeray. -- Bid hook, a small boat hook. -- Chain hook. See under Chain. -- Deck hook, a horizontal knee or frame, in the bow of a ship, on which the forward part of the deck rests. -- Hook and eye, one of the small wire hooks and loops for fastening together the opposite…

A chain of small cells in certain algæ, by which the plant is propogated.

Pertaining to, resembling, or abounding in, ice; cold; frosty. "Icy chains." Shak. "Icy region." Boyle. "Icy seas." Pope.

put in prison or jail; To arrest and detain in custody; to confine. He imprisoned was in chains remediles. Spenser.

nditions; as, he is in difficulties; she stood in a blaze of light. "Fettered in amorous chains." Shak. Wrapt in sweet sounds, as in bright veils. Shelley.

The act of linking together; enchaining. [R.] Goldsmith.

An infinity; an incalculable or very great number. Glittering chains, embroidered richly o'er With infinite of pearls and finest gold. Fanshawe.

To link together; to join, as one chain to another. Dryden.

Fetters; chains; handcuffs; manacles. Four of the sufferers were left to rot in irons. Macaulay.

An East Indian barbet (Megalaima faber), inhabiting the Island of Hainan. The name alludes to its note, which resembles the sounds made by a smith.

Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as, irony chains; irony particles. [R.] Woodward.