open chain

noun

: an arrangement of atoms represented in a structural formula by a chain whose ends are not joined so as to form a ring

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Nearly two dozen Waffle House restaurants are closed across Florida, unsettling for those who view the always-open chain as an informal gauge of just how bad some natural disaster might get. —Kate Gibson, CBS News, 28 Sep. 2022

That left only two five-vertex configurations still open: the pentagon (or really any five-sided polygon), also called a five-cycle, and the five-vertex path, which consists of four line segments linked together, forming an open chain. —Quanta Magazine, 26 Apr. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1880, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

open chain

noun

: an arrangement of atoms represented in a structural formula by a chain whose ends are not joined so as to form a ring