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Chain vs Channel - What's the difference?

chain | channel |

As a noun chain

is a series of interconnected rings or links usually made of metal.

As a verb chain

is to fasten something with a chain.

As a proper noun channel is

(by ellipsis) the english channel.

chain

English

(wikipedia chain)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A series of interconnected rings or links usually made of metal.
    • He wore a gold chain around the neck .
  • A series of interconnected things.
    • a chain of mountains
    a chain of ideas, one leading to the next
    This led to an unfortunate chain of events .
  • A series of stores or businesses with the same brand name.
    • That chain of restaurants is expanding into our town .
  • (chemistry) A number of atoms in a series, which combine to form a molecule.
    • When examined, the molecular chain included oxygen and hydrogen .
  • (surveying) A series of interconnected links of known length, used as a measuring device.
  • (surveying) A long measuring tape.
  • A unit of length equal to 22 yards. The length of a Gunter's surveying chain. The length of a cricket pitch. Equal to 20.12 metres. Equal to 4 rods. Equal to 100 links.
  • (mathematics, order theory) A totally ordered set, especially a totally ordered subset of a poset.
  • (British) A sequence of linked house purchases, each of which is dependent on the preceding and succeeding purchase (said to be "broken" if a buyer or seller pulls out).
  • That which confines, fetters, or secures; a bond.
    • the chains of habit
  • * Milton
    • Driven down / To chains of darkness and the undying worm.
  • (nautical, in the plural) Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.
  • (weaving) The warp threads of a web.
    • (Knight)

    Synonyms

    *

    Derived terms

    * Albert chain * ball and chain * bra chain * chaincase * chain drive * chain gang * chain gun * chain letter * chain lightning * chainlink * chainlink fence * chain mail, chainmail * chainman * chain of command * chain of custody * chain of events * chain of production * chain of thought * chain of title * chain pickerel * chainplate * chain pump * chain reaction * chainring * chain rule * chainsaw, chain saw * chain shot * chain-smoke * chain smoker * chainsmoking, chain-smoking * chain stitch * chain store * chain story * daisy chain, daisy-chain * food chain * green chain * Gunter's chain, Gunter's Chain * heterochain * hogchain * homochain * interchain * intrachain * keychain, key chain * Markov chain * megachain * mountain chain * off the chain * retail chain * side chain, sidechain * signifying chain * snow chain * subchain * supply chain * toolchain * waist chain

    Related terms

    * catena

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fasten something with a chain.
  • To link multiple items together.
  • To secure someone with fetters.
  • To obstruct the mouth of a river etc with a chain.
  • (computing) To relate data items with a chain of pointers.
  • (computing) To be chained to another data item.
  • To measure a distance using a 66-foot long chain, as in land surveying.
  • To load and automatically run (a program).
  • * 1996 , "Mr D Walsh", Running two programs from a batch file'' (on newsgroup ''comp.sys.acorn.misc )
    • How do you get one program to chain another? I want to run DrawWorks2 then !Draw but as soon as you run Drawworks2 it finishes the batch file and doesn't go on to the next instruction! Is there a way without loading one of these automatic loaders?
  • * 1998 , "Juan Flynn", BBC software transmitted on TV - how to load?'' (on newsgroup ''comp.sys.acorn.misc )
    • You can do LOAD "" or CHAIN "" to load or chain the next program if I remember correctly (it's been a loooong time since I've used a tape on an Acorn!)
  • * 2006 , "Richard Porter", SpamStamp double headers'' (on newsgroup ''comp.sys.acorn.apps )
    • Recent versions of AntiSpam no longer use the Config file but have a Settings file instead, so when I updated the Config file to chain SpamStamp it had no effect as it was a redundant file.

    References

    * * * OED 2nd edition 1989

    External links

    * (commonslite)

    Anagrams

    *

    channel

    English

    (wikipedia channel)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) chenel (French: '', ''chenal ), from (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The physical confine of a river or slough, consisting of a bed and banks.
    • ''The water coming out of the waterwheel created a standing wave in the channel .
  • The natural or man-made deeper course through a reef, bar, bay, or any shallow body of water.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-01
    • , author=Nancy Langston , title=The Fraught History of a Watery World , volume=101, issue=1, page=59 , magazine= citation , passage=European adventurers found themselves within a watery world, a tapestry of streams, channels , wetlands, lakes and lush riparian meadows enriched by floodwaters from the Mississippi River.}}
    A channel was dredged to allow ocean-going vessels to reach the city.
  • The navigable part of a river.
    • We were careful to keep our boat in the channel .
  • A narrow body of water between two land masses.
    • The English Channel lies between France and England.
  • That through which anything passes; means of conveying or transmitting.
    • The news was conveyed to us by different channels .
  • * Dalton
    • The veins are converging channels .
  • * Burke
    • At best, he is but a channel to convey to the National Assembly such matter as may import that body to know.
  • A gutter; a groove, as in a fluted column.
  • (nautical, in the plural) Flat ledges of heavy plank bolted edgewise to the outside of a vessel, to increase the spread of the shrouds and carry them clear of the bulwarks.
  • (electronics) A connection between initiating]] and [[terminate, terminating nodes of a circuit.
    • The guard-rail provided the channel between the downed wire and the tree.
  • (electronics) The narrow conducting portion of a MOSFET transistor.
  • (communication) The part that connects a data source to a data sink.
    • A channel stretches between them.
  • (communication) A path for conveying electrical or electromagnetic signals, usually distinguished from other parallel paths.
    • We are using one of the 24 channels .
  • (communication) A single path provided by a transmission medium via physical separation, such as by multipair cable.
    • The channel is created by bonding the signals from these four pairs.
  • (communication) A single path provided by a transmission medium via spectral or protocol separation, such as by frequency or time-division multiplexing.
    • Their call is being carried on channel 6 of the T-1 line.
  • (broadcasting) A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies, usually in conjunction with a predetermined letter, number, or codeword, and allocated by international agreement.
    • KNDD is the channel at 107.7 MHz in Seattle.
  • (broadcasting) A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies used for transmitting television.
    • NBC is on channel 11 in San Jose.
  • * 2008 , Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in'' Nate Green, ''Built for Show , page xi
    • TV back then was five channels (three networks, PBS, and an independent station that ran I Love Lucy reruns),
  • (storage) The portion of a storage medium, such as a track or a band, that is accessible to a given reading or writing station or head.
    • This chip in this disk drive is the channel device.
  • (technic) The way in a turbine pump where the pressure is built up.
    • The liquid is pressurized in the lateral channel .
  • (business, marketing) A distribution channel
  • (Internet) A particular area for conversations on an IRC network, analogous to a chatroom and often dedicated to a specific topic.
  • (Internet) An obsolete means of delivering up-to-date Internet content.
  • * 1999 , Jeffrey S Rule, Dynamic HTML: The HTML Developer's Guide
    • Netcaster is the "receiver" for channels that are built into Netscape 4.01 and later releases.
  • * 1999 , Margaret Levine Young, Internet: The Complete Reference
    • To access channels in Windows 98, you don't have to go any farther than your desktop.
  • A psychic or medium who temporarily takes on the personality of somebody else.
    • Synonyms
    * (narrow body of water between two land masses) passage, sound, strait * (for television) side , station (US)
    Derived terms
    * channel-hopping * change the channel * ion channel * television channel
    Related terms
    * canal

    Verb

  • To direct the flow of something.
    • We will channel the traffic to the left with these cones.
  • To assume the personality of another person, typically a historic figure, in a theatrical or paranormal presentation.
    • When it is my turn to sing karaoke, I am going to channel Ray Charles.
    Derived terms
    * backchannel

    Etymology 2

    From chainwale

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) The wale of a sailing ship which projects beyond the gunwale and to which the shrouds attach via the chains.