chain
     n 1: a series of things depending on each other as if linked
          together; "the chain of command"; "a complicated
          concatenation of circumstances" [syn: {concatenation}]
     2: (chemistry) a series of linked atoms (generally in an
        organic molecule) [syn: {chemical chain}]
     3: a series of (usually metal) rings or links fitted into one
        another to make a flexible ligament
     4: a number of similar establishments (stores or restaurants or
        banks or hotels or theaters) under one ownership
     5: anything that acts as a restraint
     6: a unit of length
     7: British biochemist (born in Germany) who isolated and
        purified penicillin, which had been discovered in 1928 by
        Sir Alexander Fleming (1906-1979) [syn: {Ernst Boris Chain},
         {Sir Ernst Boris Chain}]
     8: a series of hills or mountains; "the valley was between two
        ranges of hills"; "the plains lay just beyond the mountain
        range" [syn: {range}, {mountain range}, {range of
        mountains}, {mountain chain}, {chain of mountains}]
     9: metal shackles; for hands or legs [syn: {iron}, {irons}, {chains}]
     10: a necklace made by a stringing objects together; "a string
         of beads"; "a strand of pearls"; [syn: {string}, {strand}]
     v 1: connect or arrange into a chain by linking
     2: fasten or secure with chains; "Chain the chairs together"
        [ant: {unchain}]
Source: WordNet® 2.0

chain 1. vi. [orig. from BASIC's `CHAIN' statement] To hand off
   execution to a child or successor without going through the {OS} command
   interpreter that invoked it. The state of the parent program is lost and
   there is no returning to it. Though this facility used to be common on
   memory-limited micros and is still widely supported for backward
   compatibility, the jargon usage is semi-obsolescent; in particular, most
   Unix programmers will think of this as an {exec}. Oppose the more modern
   `subshell'. 2. n. A series of linked data areas within an operating
   system or application. `Chain rattling' is the process of repeatedly
   running through the linked data areas searching for one which is of
   interest to the executing program. The implication is that there is a
   very large number of links on the chain.


Source: The Jargon File