chainman

[ cheyn-muhn ]

noun,plural chain·men.Surveying.
  1. a person who holds and positions a chain in taking measurements.

Origin of chainman

1
An Americanism dating back to 1705–15; chain + -man

Words Nearby chainman

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chainman in a sentence

  • He was accompanied by an assistant and a chainman,—his son Robert entering the figures while his father took the sights.

    Lives of the Engineers | Samuel Smiles
  • The head chainman carried all of these to start with, and stuck one into the ground at the end of each hundred feet.

    Campmates | Kirk Munroe
  • The men exchange pins and the tally man, usually the hind chainman, calls out "Tally one," and cuts a notch in a stick.

    The A B C of Mining | Charles A. Bramble
  • Two men are required for measuring, or "chaining," a head and a rear chainman.

  • Morris, addressing the head chainman, keep this boy with you.

    Pickett's Gap | Homer Greene

British Dictionary definitions for chainman

chainman

/ (ˈtʃeɪnmən) /


nounplural -men
  1. surveying a person who does the chaining in a survey

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012