Meanings
nounchain reaction (plural chain reactions)
plural chain reactions
- physicalchemistryA chemical reaction where the products of the reaction influence the reactants of a following reaction, leading to positive feedback.
polymerase chain reaction
- nuclear physicsA nuclear reaction in which particles produced by the fission of one atom trigger fissions of other atoms.
The Manhattan Project produced the first recorded controlled chain reaction.
- figurativelyA series of events, each one causing or influencing the next.
That is, systemic risk is the risk of a chain reaction of falling interconnected dominos.
2010, Robert W. Kolb, Lessons from the Financial Crisis, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN1 more example
You need the evening action / A place to dine, a glass of wine, a little late romance / It's a chain reaction / You'll see the people of the world coming out to dance
1980, George Benson, “Give Me the Night (song)”, in Give Me the Night (album)
Translations
Afrikaans kettingreaksie
- kettingreaksietype of nuclear reaction
Arabic تَفَاعُل مُتَسَلْسِل
- تَفَاعُل مُتَسَلْسِل (tafāʕul mutasalsil)type of nuclear reaction
Basque kate-erreakzio
- kate-erreakziotype of nuclear reaction
Bengali ধারাবাহিক প্রক্রিয়া
- ধারাবাহিক প্রক্রিয়া (dharabahik prokriẏa)type of nuclear reaction
Bulgarian вери́жна реа́кция
- вери́жна реа́кция (verížna reákcija)type of nuclear reaction
Catalan reacció en cadena
- reacció en cadenatype of nuclear reaction
Chinese Mandarin 鏈式反應 /链式反应, 鏈反應 /链反应
- 鏈式反應 /链式反应 (liànshì fǎnyìng)type of nuclear reaction
- 鏈反應 /链反应 (liànfǎnyìng)type of nuclear reaction
- 連鎖反應 /连锁反应 (liánsuǒ fǎnyìng)series of events
Czech řetězová reakce, řetězová reakce
- řetězová reakcetype of nuclear reaction
- řetězová reakceseries of events
Danish kædereaktion, kædereaktion
- kædereaktiontype of nuclear reaction
- kædereaktionseries of events
Dutch kettingreactie, kettingreactie
- kettingreactietype of nuclear reaction
- kettingreactieseries of events
Esperanto ĉena reakcio
- ĉena reakciotype of nuclear reaction
Estonian ahelreaktsioon
- ahelreaktsioontype of nuclear reaction
Finnish ketjureaktio, ketjureaktio
- ketjureaktiotype of nuclear reaction
- ketjureaktioseries of events
French réaction en chaîne, réaction en chaîne
- réaction en chaînetype of nuclear reaction
- réaction en chaîneseries of events
German Kettenreaktion, Kettenreaktion
- Kettenreaktiontype of nuclear reaction
- Kettenreaktionseries of events
Greek αλυσιδωτή αντίδραση
- αλυσιδωτή αντίδραση (alysidotí antídrasi)type of nuclear reaction
Hebrew תְּגוּבַת שַׁרְשֶׁרֶת
- תְּגוּבַת שַׁרְשֶׁרֶת (tguvát sharshéret)type of nuclear reaction
Hindi शृंखला अभिक्रिया
- शृंखला अभिक्रिया (śŕṅkhlā abhikriyā)type of nuclear reaction
Hungarian láncreakció, láncreakció
- láncreakciótype of nuclear reaction
- láncreakcióseries of events
Indonesian reaksi berantai
- reaksi berantaitype of nuclear reaction
Irish imoibriú slabhrúil
- imoibriú slabhrúiltype of nuclear reaction
Italian reazione a catena, reazione a catena
- reazione a catenatype of nuclear reaction
- reazione a catenaseries of events
Japanese 連鎖反応, 連鎖反応
- 連鎖反応 (rensa hannō)type of nuclear reaction
- 連鎖反応 (rensa hannō)series of events
Korean 연쇄반응
- 연쇄반응 (yeonswaebaneung)type of nuclear reaction
Latvian ķēdes reakcija
- ķēdes reakcijatype of nuclear reaction
Malay tindak balas berantai, reaksi berantai
- tindak balas berantaitype of nuclear reaction
- reaksi berantaitype of nuclear reaction
- tindak balas berantaiseries of events
- reaksi berantaiseries of events
Norwegian Bokmål kjedereaksjon, kjedereaksjon
- kjedereaksjontype of nuclear reaction
- kjedereaksjonseries of events
Persian واکنش زنجیرهای
- واکنش زنجیرهایtype of nuclear reaction
Polish reakcja łańcuchowa, reakcja łańcuchowa
- reakcja łańcuchowatype of nuclear reaction
- reakcja łańcuchowaseries of events
Portuguese reação em cadeia, reação em cadeia
- reação em cadeiatype of nuclear reaction
- reação em cadeiaseries of events
Romanian reacție în lanț
- reacție în lanțtype of nuclear reaction
Russian цепна́я реа́кция, цепна́я реа́кция
- цепна́я реа́кция (cepnája reákcija)type of nuclear reaction
- цепна́я реа́кция (cepnája reákcija)series of events
Slovak reťazová reakcia, reťazová reakcia
- reťazová reakciatype of nuclear reaction
- reťazová reakciaseries of events
Spanish reacción en cadena, reacción catenaria
- reacción en cadenatype of nuclear reaction
- reacción catenariatype of nuclear reaction
- reacción catenariaseries of events
Swedish kedjereaktion, kedjereaktion
- kedjereaktiontype of nuclear reaction
- kedjereaktionseries of events
Tagalog patanikalang tambisa
- patanikalang tambisatype of nuclear reaction
Turkish zincir reaksiyon, zincirleme reaksiyon
- zincir reaksiyontype of nuclear reaction
- zincirleme reaksiyontype of nuclear reaction
- zincirleme tepkiseries of events
Ukrainian ланцюго́ва реа́кція, ланцюго́ва реа́кція
- ланцюго́ва реа́кція (lancjuhóva reákcija)type of nuclear reaction
- ланцюго́ва реа́кція (lancjuhóva reákcija)series of events
Vietnamese phản ứng dây chuyền, phản ứng dây chuyền
- phản ứng dây chuyềntype of nuclear reaction
- phản ứng dây chuyềnseries of events
Welsh adwaith cadwyn
- adwaith cadwyntype of nuclear reaction
Cite this entry
APA
chain reaction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chain%20reaction
MLA
“chain reaction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chain%20reaction. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chain reaction,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chain%20reaction.
Source: chain reaction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.