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enchain

[en-cheyn]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to bind in or as in chain or chains; fetter; restrain: to be enchained by ignorance and superstition.
  2. to hold fast, as the attention.
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Origin of enchain

1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French enchainer, enchaener. See en-1, chain
Related formsen·chain·ment, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

cover, unite, strap, restrict, attach, shackle, handcuff, connect, wrap, tether, dress, stick, incarcerate, suppress, deprive, coerce, imprison, subjugate, oppress, disenfranchise

Examples from the Web for enchain

Historical Examples

  • Utter weakness gripped his body; but more than this seemed to enchain him.

    Cursed

    George Allan England

  • There still are comforts and pleasures in God's world, but they do not enchain.

    Judges and Ruth

    Robert A. Watson

  • Her life should be one long vigilant device to enchain his being.

    Henrietta Temple

    Benjamin Disraeli

  • He knew himself to be grave and quiet; there was nothing about him to enchain her to him.

    Vera Nevill

    Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron

  • A sensation of absolute rest and total indifference seemed to enchain all his faculties.

    Twice Bought

    R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for enchain

enchain

verb (tr)
  1. to bind with chains
  2. to hold fast or captivate (the attention, etc)
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Derived Formsenchainment, noun
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