Phrase guide

chain reaction

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A chemical reaction where the products of the reaction influence the reactants of a following reaction, leading to positive feedback.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: physical

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

Examples

  • polymerase chain reaction

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A nuclear reaction in which particles produced by the fission of one atom trigger fissions of other atoms.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: nuclear physics

Examples

  • The Manhattan Project produced the first recorded controlled chain reaction.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A series of events, each one causing or influencing the next.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a series of chemical reactions in which the product of one is a reactant in the next

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: chemical reaction, reaction

5

noun

Meaning 5

a self-sustaining nuclear reaction; a series of nuclear fissions in which neutrons released by splitting one atom leads to the splitting of others

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: nuclear reaction

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

90 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: kettingreaksie — type of nuclear reaction
  • Albanian: reaksion zinxhi — type of nuclear reaction
  • Amharic: የሰንሰለት ድርጊት (yäsänsälät dərgit) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Arabic: تَفَاعُل مُتَسَلْسِل (tafāʕul mutasalsil) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Armenian: շղթայական ռեակցիա (šġtʻayakan ṙeakcʻia) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Azerbaijani: zəncirvari reaksiya — type of nuclear reaction
  • Basque: kate-erreakzio — type of nuclear reaction
  • Belarusian: ланцуго́вая рэа́кцыя (lancuhóvaja reákcyja) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Bengali: ধারাবাহিক প্রক্রিয়া (dharabahik prokriẏa) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Bulgarian: вери́жна реа́кция (verížna reákcija) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Catalan: reacció en cadena — type of nuclear reaction
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鏈式反應 /链式反应 (liànshì fǎnyìng) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鏈反應 /链反应 (liànfǎnyìng) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Czech: řetězová reakce — type of nuclear reaction
  • Danish: kædereaktion — type of nuclear reaction
  • Dutch: kettingreactie — type of nuclear reaction
  • Esperanto: ĉena reakcio — type of nuclear reaction
  • Estonian: ahelreaktsioon — type of nuclear reaction
  • Faroese: ketureaktión — type of nuclear reaction
  • Finnish: ketjureaktio — type of nuclear reaction
  • French: réaction en chaîne — type of nuclear reaction
  • Galician: reacción en cadea — type of nuclear reaction
  • Georgian: ჯაჭვური რეაქცია (ǯač̣vuri reakcia) — type of nuclear reaction
  • German: Kettenreaktion — type of nuclear reaction
  • Greek: αλυσιδωτή αντίδραση (alysidotí antídrasi) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Haitian Creole: reyaksyon an chenn — type of nuclear reaction
  • Hebrew: תְּגוּבַת שַׁרְשֶׁרֶת (tguvát sharshéret) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Hindi: शृंखला अभिक्रिया (śŕṅkhlā abhikriyā) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Hungarian: láncreakció — type of nuclear reaction
  • Indonesian: reaksi berantai — type of nuclear reaction
  • Irish: imoibriú slabhrúil — type of nuclear reaction
  • Italian: reazione a catena — type of nuclear reaction
  • Japanese: 連鎖反応 (rensa hannō) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Kannada: ಸರಣಿ ಕ್ರಿಯೆ (saraṇi kriye) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Kannada: ಸಾಲುಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ (sālupratikriye) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Kannada: ಸರಣಿಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ (saraṇipratikriye) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Kannada: ಪ್ರಕ್ರಿಯಾಶ್ರೇಣಿ (prakriyāśrēṇi) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Kazakh: тізбекті реакция (tızbektı reaksiä) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Korean: 연쇄반응 (yeonswaebaneung) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Latvian: ķēdes reakcija — type of nuclear reaction
  • Macedonian: верижна реакција (verižna reakcija) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Malay: tindak balas berantai — type of nuclear reaction
  • Malay: reaksi berantai — type of nuclear reaction
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kjedereaksjon — type of nuclear reaction
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kjedereaksjon — type of nuclear reaction
  • Persian: واکنش زنجیرهای — type of nuclear reaction
  • Polish: reakcja łańcuchowa — type of nuclear reaction
  • Portuguese: reação em cadeia — type of nuclear reaction
  • Romanian: reacție în lanț — type of nuclear reaction
  • Russian: цепна́я реа́кция (cepnája reákcija) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Serbo-Croatian: ла̀нчана реа̀кција — type of nuclear reaction
  • Serbo-Croatian: lànčana reàkcija — type of nuclear reaction
  • Slovak: reťazová reakcia — type of nuclear reaction
  • Slovene: verižna reakcija — type of nuclear reaction
  • Spanish: reacción en cadena — type of nuclear reaction
  • Spanish: reacción catenaria — type of nuclear reaction
  • Swedish: kedjereaktion — type of nuclear reaction
  • Tagalog: patanikalang tambisa — type of nuclear reaction
  • Turkish: zincir reaksiyon — type of nuclear reaction
  • Turkish: zincirleme reaksiyon — type of nuclear reaction
  • Ukrainian: ланцюго́ва реа́кція (lancjuhóva reákcija) — type of nuclear reaction
  • Vietnamese: phản ứng dây chuyền — type of nuclear reaction
  • Welsh: adwaith cadwyn — type of nuclear reaction
  • Belarusian: ланцуго́вая рэа́кцыя (lancuhóvaja reákcyja) — series of events
  • Chinese Mandarin: 連鎖反應 /连锁反应 (liánsuǒ fǎnyìng) — series of events
  • Czech: řetězová reakce — series of events
  • Danish: kædereaktion — series of events
  • Dutch: kettingreactie — series of events
  • Faroese: ketureaktión — series of events
  • Finnish: ketjureaktio — series of events
  • French: réaction en chaîne — series of events
  • Georgian: ჯაჭვური რეაქცია (ǯač̣vuri reakcia) — series of events
  • German: Kettenreaktion — series of events
  • Hungarian: láncreakció — series of events
  • Italian: reazione a catena — series of events
  • Japanese: 連鎖反応 (rensa hannō) — series of events
  • Malay: tindak balas berantai — series of events
  • Malay: reaksi berantai — series of events
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kjedereaksjon — series of events
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kjedereaksjon — series of events
  • Polish: reakcja łańcuchowa — series of events
  • Portuguese: reação em cadeia — series of events
  • Russian: цепна́я реа́кция (cepnája reákcija) — series of events
  • Slovak: reťazová reakcia — series of events
  • Slovene: verižna reakcija — series of events
  • Spanish: reacción catenaria — series of events
  • Swedish: kedjereaktion — series of events
  • Turkish: zincirleme tepki — series of events
  • Ukrainian: ланцюго́ва реа́кція (lancjuhóva reákcija) — series of events
  • Vietnamese: phản ứng dây chuyền — series of events