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
Genuinely, tenderly, and with a pervasive charm impossible to describe, the author tells the story of the old love, which returns to the woman’s life after the fetters of a loveless marriage enchain her.
From Dolly's College Experiences by Mabel Cronise Jones
Her thoughts seemed to enchain the power of speech.
From The Mynns' Mystery by George Manville Fenn
It would do as great things now, if it were divorced from the degrading and tyrannical connection that enchains it.
From Coningsby by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield
He was the most sagacious, most mysterious prince of his age; he had everything that enchains, corrupts, alarms, and attracts the world—arms, riches, glory, genius, religion.
From Holland, v. 1 (of 2) by Helen Zimmern
At the same time that it unchains princes and breaks for them the ties of the social pact, it enchains the minds and the hands of their oppressed subjects.
From Superstition In All Ages (1732) Common Sense by Anna Knoop
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
A voice less austere meanwhile enchains the captive ear of the poet.
From International Weekly Miscellany — Volume 1, No. 3, July 15, 1850 by Various
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
The world gained as a result of the Great War a freedom from the menace of organized militarist imperialism without which all peoples sooner or later would have been enchained in bondage and vassalage.
From Time Magazine Archive
Eisman was enchained, however, by FrontPoint Partners and, by extension, Morgan Stanley.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
The present book is a romance of the sword, full of charming local color, true to life as it is in Japan, and full of deep and enchaining interest.
From Ticknor and Company Book Catalog (1887) by Ticknor and Company
Princes seven, enchaining hands, Bear the live Head homeward.
From Lyra Heroica A Book of Verse for Boys by Various
The past is, by its ruthless critics, conceived not infrequently as enchaining or enslaving.
From Human Traits and their Social Significance by Irwin Edman
The Countess of Albany, by enchaining him in the bonds of what he called "worthy love," had saved him from any chance of fresh follies with these alarming "virtuous women."
From The Countess of Albany by Vernon Lee
Was there freedom, was there enchaining, was there even a height rising from higher.
From Geography and Plays by Gertrude Stein
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