enchain
Americanverb (used with object)
-
enchains,
present (3rd person singular)
-
enchained,
past participle, past
-
enchaining
present participle
-
to bind in or as in chain or chains; fetter; restrain.
to be enchained by ignorance and superstition.
-
to hold fast, as the attention.
verb
-
to bind with chains
-
to hold fast or captivate (the attention, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
enchainsimple
-
enchainssimple
-
have enchainedperfect
-
has enchainedperfect
-
am enchainingprogressive
-
are enchainingprogressive
-
is enchainingprogressive
-
have been enchainingperfect progressive
-
has been enchainingperfect progressive
Past
-
enchainedsimple
-
had enchainedperfect
-
was enchainingprogressive
-
were enchainingprogressive
-
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
Mrs. Dormer-Smith's interest in the deceased Martin Bransby was too slight to enchain her attention.
From That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 2 by Frances Eleanor Trollope
Abstaining from merely theoretical speculations, he exhibits a profound insight into the operation of political causes, which he unfolds with great sagacity, and in a manner suited to enchain the attention of the reader.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol 1-98, 1850-1899 None by Various (magazine) Harper
The willing listen to him from delight, the unwilling and opposite minded because he enchains them.
From The Prince of India — Volume 01 by Lewis Wallace
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
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
To be sure, you have no conception of that burning fiendish passion, which enchains and makes a man powerless--so surrounds him with its bonds, that for its sake he forgets and sacrifices everything.
From Riven Bonds. Vol. I. A Novel, in Two Volumes by E. Werner
There is nothing that so fascinates and enchains the imagination of men as power in another man.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 7 by Charles Dudley Warner
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
At the last pair De Lara looks not, the first enchaining his attention.
From The Flag of Distress A Story of the South Sea by Mayne Reid
These are some specimens of the company's many devious instrumentalities for enchaining and plundering its thousands of workers.
From History of the Great American Fortunes, Vol. I Conditions in Settlement and Colonial Times by Myers Gustavus
Princes seven, enchaining hands, Bear the live Head homeward.
From Lyra Heroica A Book of Verse for Boys by Various
Notwithstanding, the bright little town ends by enchaining us completely.
From A Midsummer Drive Through the Pyrenees by Edwin Asa Dix
"A novel of purpose as well as an enchaining romance."
From The Black Pearl by Mrs. Wilson Woodrow
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.
