chain vs wire

chain

verb
  • To fasten something with a chain. 

  • To link multiple items together. 

  • To connect as if with a chain, due to dependence, addiction, or other feelings 

  • To measure a distance using a 66-foot long chain, as in land surveying. 

  • To relate data items with a chain of pointers. 

  • To obstruct the mouth of a river etc with a chain. 

  • To obligate. 

  • To secure someone with fetters. 

  • To load and automatically run (a program). 

  • To be chained to another data item. 

noun
  • A series of interconnected links of known length, used as a measuring device. 

  • A series of stores or businesses with the same brand name. 

  • A number of atoms in a series, which combine to form a molecule. 

  • A unit of length equal to 22 yards. The length of a Gunter's surveying chain. The length of a cricket pitch. Equal to 20.12 metres, 4 rods, or 100 links. 

  • That which confines, fetters, or secures; a bond. 

  • A series of interconnected rings or links usually made of metal. 

  • Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels. 

  • A long measuring tape. 

  • A totally ordered set, especially a totally ordered subset of a poset. 

  • A sequence of linked house purchases, each of which is dependent on the preceding and succeeding purchase (said to be "broken" if a buyer or seller pulls out). 

  • A livery collar, a chain of office. 

  • The warp threads of a web. 

  • A series of interconnected things. 

wire

verb
  • To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing. 

  • To send a message or monetary funds to another person through a telecommunications system, formerly predominantly by telegraph. 

  • To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot. 

  • To set or predetermine (someone's personality or behaviour, or an organization's culture) in a particular way. 

  • To string on a wire. 

  • To add (something) into a system (especially an electrical system) by means of wiring. 

  • To snare by means of a wire or wires. 

  • To install eavesdropping equipment. 

  • To make someone tense or psyched up. See also adjective wired. 

  • To connect, involve or embed (something) deeply or intimately into (something else, such as an organization or political scene), so that it is plugged in (to that thing) (“keeping up with current information about (the thing)”) or has insinuated itself into (the thing). 

  • To add or connect (something) into a system as if with wires (for example, with nerves). 

  • To equip with wires for use with electricity. 

noun
  • Any of the system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show; hence, the network of hidden influences controlling the action of a person or organization; strings. 

  • A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable. 

  • A knitting needle. 

  • Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die. 

  • A telecommunication wire or cable. 

  • An electric telegraph; a telegram. 

  • A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence. 

  • A fence made of usually barbed wire. 

  • A deadline or critical endpoint. 

  • A metal conductor that carries electricity. 

  • A finish line of a racetrack. 

  • A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score. 

  • The slender shaft of the plumage of certain birds. 

  • A covert signal sent between people cheating in a card game. 

How often have the words chain and wire occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )