watch chain

American

noun

a chain, frequently of gold or silver, attached to a pocket watch, serving as an ornament and, when passed through a buttonhole in the vest, as a guard against loss or theft of the watch.

watch chain British

noun

a chain used for fastening a pocket watch to the clothing See also fob 1

"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

Etymology

Origin of watch chain

First recorded in 1730–40

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:

watch chain

It seems that the pandemic helped turbocharge the market, said Steven Kaiser, the president and chief executive of Kennedy USA, a watch chain based in Australia.

From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2022

She sells her hair to buy a watch chain, and he sells his watch in order to buy her a set of combs for Christmas.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2021

An imposing-looking man with a shock of gray hair who wore three-piece suits crossed by a watch chain, he was not about to let anyone outflank him in enthusiasm for deportations.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 4, 2019

The sale at Boldon Auction Galleries in South Tyneside also included a plaster cast of his face and hands, and a silver watch chain he wore at work.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2019

Pretending to be him, I took my vesta case from my pocket, clunky and unfashionable compared to the slim brass one Yakov had worn suspended from his watch chain.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023