Gunter's chain

American  

noun

1. chain8a

---

Gunter's chain British  

noun

1. surveying a measuring chain 22 yards in length, or this length as a unit See chain

---

Etymology

Origin of Gunter's chain

First recorded in 1670–80; named after its inventor, Edmund Gunter

Example Sentences

His practical inventions are briefly noticed below: Gunter’s Chain, the chain in common use for surveying, is 22 yds. long and is divided into 100 links.

From Project Gutenberg

From the number of eminent men, not forgetting Henry Thoreau, Leonardo da Vinci, Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Washington—aye! nor old John Brown, who carried a Gunter's chain and manipulated the transit—we come to the conclusion that there must be something in the business of surveying that conduces to clear thinking and strong, independent action.

From Project Gutenberg

This persistence to face either the sun or the sea shows a last, strange rudiment of paganism, making queer angles now that surveyors have come with Gunter's chain and transit, laying out streets and doing their work.

From Project Gutenberg

A theodolite, with a level, and a Gunter's chain, by ditto.

From Project Gutenberg