chain mail

plural chain mails · alternative chainmail

1. uncountableusuallyA flexible defensive armor, made of a mesh of interlinked metal rings.

   Chain mails were also sometimes attached to the back of Viking helmets to protect the neck.

   2004, Step into the World of… The Vikings, Bath: Grandreams Books Ltd, →ISBN, page 14

   3 more examples

   Chain mail is formed by a number of iron rings, each ring having four others inserted into it, the whole exhibiting a kind of net work, with circular meshes, every ring separately rivetted; this kind of mail answers to that worn on the ancient breast plates, whence they were denominated loricæ hammatæ, from the rings being hooked together.

   1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 11

   A few broken broadswords, a helmet and a couple of chain mails preserved in museums are all the relics of those far-off times.

   1947, Sergei Eisenstein, translated by X. Danko, edited by G. Ivanov-Mumjiev, compiled by R. Yurenev, Notes of a Film Director, Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, page 36

   They wore chain mails over simple brown tunics, war paint still covered their faces in simple streaks, and their long dark hair hung in pony-tails that wrapped about their shoulders or hung down their backs.

   2014, Saul Rip, The Rise of Shendoa (The Underworld Legacy Series), San Clemente, Calif.: Sourced Media Books, →ISBN, page 191

   Synonyms: armor

plural chain mails

1. collectivecountablesometimesuncountableA chain letter.