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
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
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
Euripides was doubtless in his day a sensation dramatist, but the atrocities of Medea could not enchain me, with so much dreadful mystery afoot in my immediate neighbourhood.
From Lost Sir Massingberd, v. 2/2 A Romance of Real Life by James Payn
Her magnificent acting, combined with her superb vocalization, enchain through the entire opera.
From The International Monthly, Vol. II, No. I December 1, 1850 by Various
His eloquence enchains every heart; in burning words, he assails every soul.
From May Brooke by Anna Hanson Dorsey
Can this be delusion, or infatuation, or is it a species of witchery that thus deceives, enchains, and blinds a people, in all other respects of quick imagination and natural talents?
From Auricular Confession and Popish Nunneries Volumes I. and II., Complete by William Hogan
With Thomson, now, o'er sylvan scenes we stray, Or seek the lone church-yard, with pensive Gray: On Pope's refin'd, or Dryden's lofty strains, Dwell, while their fire the lightest heart enchains.
From Poetic Sketches by Thomas Gent
A new novel by a new writer, which enchains our attention from the very first sentence of the first page, is a pleasant surprise.
From Hand and Ring by Anna Katharine Green
Rousseau enchains passion in its service, as Madame de la Fayette, as even Prévost, had not been able to do before.
From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 by George Saintsbury
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
In The Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer describes how a tribesman chosen to be king must be enchained and thrashed before his coronation.
From Time Magazine Archive
Eisman was enchained, however, by FrontPoint Partners and, by extension, Morgan Stanley.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
The disfranchised conscience in a smooth, unresisting world, becomes an enchaining conversation, an all-narrating fable.
From Henry of Ofterdingen: A Romance. by Friedrich von Hardenberg
The Electress, who preceded them, was wholly absorbed in conversation with Count Adam Schwarzenberg, who by his witty, fascinating powers of address succeeded in enchaining her attention.
From The Youth of the Great Elector by L. (Luise) Mühlbach
Was there freedom, was there enchaining, was there even a height rising from higher.
From Geography and Plays by Gertrude Stein
A view of ten thousand roofs, inexpressibly enchaining....
From The Destroying Angel by Louis Joseph Vance
He can as truly deliver the body from the most persistent and enchaining habit, as he can wholly convert the mind and heart.
From The Wonders of Prayer A Record of Well Authenticated and Wonderful Answers to Prayer by D. W. (Daniel Webster) Whittle
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