Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CHAIN, v.t.

1. To fasten, bind, or connect with a chain; to fasten or bind with any thing in the manner of a chain.
2. To enslave; to keep in slavery. And which more blest? Who chain'd his country, say, / Or he whose virtue sigh'd to lose a day? – Pope.
3. To guard with a chain, as a harbor or passage.
4. To unite; to form chain-work.