CHAINS Synonyms: 216 Similar and Opposite Words

chains 1 of 2

noun

plural of chain

as in sequences

a series of things linked together the chain of events that led the American colonies to seek independence from Great Britain

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Relevance

as in obstacles

something that makes movement or progress difficult this community will grow and prosper only after it has thrown off the chains of ignorance and prejudice

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as in handcuffs

something that physically prevents free movement chains on the prisoner's ankles

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chains

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of chain

as in binds

to confine or restrain with or as if with chains chaining up the dog in the backyard

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as in strings

to put or bring together so as to form a new and longer whole the prosecutor meticulously and brilliantly chained all the evidence together in his closing argument

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of chains

Noun

The neighborhood/area Despite many of the area’s mansions housing businesses or fairly average restaurant chains, this stretch of Sarrià still belongs to the wealthy. —

Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 May 2026 Madonna honored the era with fishnets, metal studs and silver chains adorning a Givenchy mini plaid blazer by Riccardo Tisci. —

Luis Giraldo, CBS News, 4 May 2026 The mooring system combines polyester cables with traditional anchor chains. —

Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 4 May 2026 Major grocery chains like Walmart, Target, Kroger and H-E-B generally follow these rules and don’t allow non-service animals inside, though policies can vary by location. —

Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 May 2026 Kolling goes to Target competitors for some of his needs — shopping on price at Aldi or Costco and finding groceries at regional chains, such as Cub or Coborn’s. —

Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 4 May 2026 The number of cafes run by six major chains that serve Yemeni-style drinks grew 50% last year to 136, according to Technomic, a restaurant industry consulting company. —

Dee-Ann Durbin, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026 In fact, Flytrex has partnered with several other fast-food chains, including Chick-fil-A, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Kebabs to Go and El Pollo Loco. —

Drew Pittock, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026 To address this, Cotton Incorporated collaborated with leading global researchers to quantify plastic leakage across both cotton and synthetic value chains, spanning fast fashion and more traditional apparel categories. —

Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 27 Apr. 2026

Verb

To address this, Ivo uses a multi-step pipeline that chains together more than 400 model calls for each contract review. —

Charlie Fink, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026 Tokyo Central is owned by Japanese company Pan Pacific Retail Management, which also runs the grocery chains Gelson’s and Don Quijote. —

John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025 Texas Roadhouse, which also operates casual dining chains Bubba’s 33 and Jaggers, is expected to report third-quarter results at the end of October. —

Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for chains

Noun

The Pitt, meanwhile, is known for its hyper-realistic emergency room scenes, and executive producer John Wells spoke to the complexity of creating graphic medical sequences in a chat with THR‘s Mikey O’Connell.

— Alex Cramer, HollywoodReporter, 4 May 2026
While Aliens is best known for its iconic action sequences, there is plenty of intrigue, suspense, and drama during the quieter moments.

— Grace Dean, Space.com, 2 May 2026