daisy chain

American  

noun

1. a string of daisies linked together to form a chain.

2. such a chain used as a garland or carried on festive days by a group of women college students.

3. a series of interconnected or related things or events.

   a daisy chain of legislative delays and stalemates.

4. Slang. a group sexual activity in which the participants serve as active and passive partners to different people simultaneously.

5. Commerce. a series of transactions designed to create the appearance of active trading, as in a particular stock, in order to manipulate the price.

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daisy chain British  

noun

1. a garland made, esp by children, by threading daisies together

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daisy chain Idioms  

1. A series of connected events, activities, or experiences. For example, The daisy chain of lectures on art history encompassed the last 200 years . This metaphorical term alludes to a string of the flowers linked together. [Mid-1800s]

2. A line or circle of three or more persons engaged in simultaneous sexual activity. For example, A high-class call girl, she drew the line at daisy chains . [ Vulgar slang ; 1920s]

3. A series of securities transactions intended to give the impression of active trading so as to drive up the price. For example, The SEC is on the alert for unscrupulous brokers who are engaging in daisy chains . [1980s]

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Etymology

Origin of daisy chain

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

And then “the daisy chain of correlated bets” will start to fracture.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 23, 2026

What all these companies have in common is that they have built internal knowledge factories that daisy chain together small, simple, fast AIs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

“It’s been kind of a daisy chain of correlated injury stuff,” Kuntz said.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2025

It’s that he is intrinsically a part of the winding daisy chain of cowards who shun him in public and thank him in private.

From Slate • Sep. 15, 2023

These eleven were the major events, and they were hooked together like a fragile daisy chain looped around the moon.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins