Chain

1. n. The warp threads of a web.
2. n. 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.
3. n. That which confines, fetters, or secures, as a chain; a bond; as, the chains of habit.
4. n. 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.
5. n. An instrument which consists of links and is used in measuring land.
6. n. Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.

The word meanings were obtained from OPTED(The Online Plain Text English Dictionary), which is based on “The Project Gutenberg Etext of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary” which is in turn based on the 1913 US Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (See Project Gutenburg), as a text file.