enchain
Americanverb (used with object)
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enchains,
present (3rd person singular)
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enchained,
past participle, past
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enchaining
present participle
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to bind in or as in chain or chains; fetter; restrain.
to be enchained by ignorance and superstition.
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to hold fast, as the attention.
verb
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to bind with chains
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to hold fast or captivate (the attention, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enchainsimple
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enchainssimple
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have enchainedperfect
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has enchainedperfect
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am enchainingprogressive
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are enchainingprogressive
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is enchainingprogressive
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have been enchainingperfect progressive
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has been enchainingperfect progressive
Past
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enchainedsimple
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had enchainedperfect
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was enchainingprogressive
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were enchainingprogressive
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had been enchainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enchain
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French enchainer, enchaener. See en- 1, chain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As Johnson wrote, “to enchain syllables, and to lash the wind, are equally the undertakings of pride, unwilling to measure its desires by its strength.”
From Slate ● May 31, 2012
At every approach of horseman, cart, or carriage, I turned fearfully, certain I should see some minister of injustice come to enchain us.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Tie your knots, she sang again and again, enchain! — enchain! — enchain me!
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Had she not already learnt what it meant to be a good match, and to thus enchain the selfishness and calculations of every man with whom she came in contact?
From Partners A Novel. by E. T. C. (Edward Theodore Chalmers) Werner
Genuinely, tenderly, and with a pervasive charm impossible to describe, the author tells the story of the old love, which returns to the woman’s life after the fetters of a loveless marriage enchain her.
From Dolly's College Experiences by Mabel Cronise Jones
They have indulged in a Platonic romance since their childhood; but I will give you the means of breaking the charm which enchains my daughter's spirit.
From The Jew by Jo?zef Ignacy Kraszewski
Homer, too, especially in his Odyssey, charms and enchains us with his beautiful descriptions of family felicity and family purity.
From Cannibals all! or, Slaves without masters by George Fitzhugh
Now, there is disorder in the world, disorder produced by the play of spontaneous forces which no power enchains: how can that be, if everything is the result of fate?
From System of Economical Contradictions; or, the Philosophy of Misery by P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph) Proudhon
Du N. Are words denied the heart Of firmest mould, or what enchains my tongue?
From Joan of Arc A Play in Five Acts by Jane Alice Sargant
What spell enchains her to this gentle care?
From French Classics by William Cleaver Wilkinson
When we first encounter the character, enchained in the dungeon at the opening of Act II, Florestan rises from exhaustion and cries out, “Gott! welch’ Dunkel hier!”
From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2017
“With regard to black people, I think they are tired of seeing themselves enchained and downtrodden.”
From New York Times ● May 18, 2016
If my imagination weren't enchained by so much witless tradition and conformity, I might tag this segment to some more majestic and impromptu pattern of my own devising, one that reaches clear across the ecliptic.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2012
Yet Berger's children of enchained emotions project their fancy into a world of living color, an incarnation of their wildest dreams.
From Time Magazine Archive
Eisman was enchained, however, by FrontPoint Partners and, by extension, Morgan Stanley.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
A view of ten thousand roofs, inexpressibly enchaining....
From The Destroying Angel by Louis Joseph Vance
As the dance went on and she grew more and more like an untamed wood-nymph, even the caballeros became vaguely uneasy, hotly as they admired the beautiful wild thing enchaining their gaze.
From The Doomswoman An Historical Romance of Old California by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
Baltic had the gift of enchaining his hearers, and the audience hung upon his speech with breathless attention.
From The Bishop's Secret by Fergus Hume
The past is, by its ruthless critics, conceived not infrequently as enchaining or enslaving.
From Human Traits and their Social Significance by Irwin Edman
Around them he grouped hostile, enchaining circumstances, which they confront fearlessly and, for a time perhaps, master, until the hour comes when they can no longer conquer.
From The Growth of English Drama by Arnold Wynne
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
