Bond n.
 1. That which binds, ties, fastens, or confines, or by which anything is fastened or bound, as a cord, chain, etc.; a band; a ligament; a shackle or a manacle.
 Gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder,
 I gained my freedom.   --Shak.
 2. pl. The state of being bound; imprisonment; captivity, restraint. “This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.”
 3. A binding force or influence; a cause of union; a uniting tie; as, the bonds of fellowship.
    A people with whom I have no tie but the common bond of mankind.   --Burke.
 4. Moral or political duty or obligation.
 I love your majesty
 According to my bond, nor more nor less.   --Shak.
 5. Law A writing under seal, by which a person binds himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators, to pay a certain sum on or before a future day appointed.  This is a single bond.  But usually a condition is added, that, if the obligor shall do a certain act, appear at a certain place, conform to certain rules, faithfully perform certain duties, or pay a certain sum of money, on or before a time specified, the obligation shall be void; otherwise it shall remain in full force.  If the condition is not performed, the bond becomes forfeited, and the obligor and his heirs are liable to the payment of the whole sum.
 6. A financial instrument (of the nature of the ordinary legal bond) made by a government or a corporation for purpose of borrowing money; a written promise to pay a specific sum of money on or before a specified day, given in return for a sum of money; as, a government, city, or railway bond.
 7. The state of goods placed in a bonded warehouse till the duties are paid; as, merchandise in bond.
 8. Arch. The union or tie of the several stones or bricks forming a wall. The bricks may be arranged for this purpose in several different ways, as in English bond or block bond (Fig. 1), where one course consists of bricks with their ends toward the face of the wall, called headers, and the next course of bricks with their lengths parallel to the face of the wall, called stretchers; Flemish bond (Fig.2), where each course consists of headers and stretchers alternately, so laid as always to break joints; Cross bond, which differs from the English by the change of the second stretcher line so that its joints come in the middle of the first, and the same position of stretchers comes back every fifth line; Combined cross and English bond, where the inner part of the wall is laid in the one method, the outer in the other.
 9. Chem. A unit of chemical attraction between atoms; as, oxygen has two bonds of affinity.  Also called chemical bond.  It is often represented in graphic formulæ by a short line or dash. See Diagram of Benzene nucleus, and Valence.  Several types of bond are distinguished by chemists, as double bond, triple bond, covalent bond, hydrogen bond.
 10. Elec. A heavy copper wire or rod connecting adjacent rails of an electric railway track when used as a part of the electric circuit.
 11.  League; association; confederacy. [South Africa]
    The Africander Bond, a league or association appealing to African, but practically to Boer, patriotism.    --James Bryce.
 Arbitration bond. See under Arbitration.
 Bond creditor Law, a creditor whose debt is secured by a bond. --Blackstone.
 covalent bond, an attractive force between two atoms of a molecule generated by the merging of an electron orbital of each atom into a combined orbital in the molecule.  Such bonds vary in strength, but in molecules of substances typically encountered in human experience (as, water or alcohol) they are sufficiently strong to persist and maintain the identity and integrity of the molecule over appreciable periods of time.  Each such bond satisfies one unit of valence for each of the atoms thus bonded.  Contrasted with hydrogen bond, which is weaker and does not satisfy the valence of either atom involved.
 double bond, triple bond, a {covalent bond} which involves the merging of orbitals of two (or three) electrons on each of the two connected atoms, thus satisfying two (or three) units of valence on each of the bonded atoms.  When two carbon atoms are thus bonded, the bond (and the compound) are said to be unsaturated.
 Bond debt Law, a debt contracted under the obligation of a bond. --Burrows.
 hydrogen bond, a non-covalent bond between hydrogen and another atom, usually oxygen or nitrogen.  It does not involve the sharing of electrons between the bonded atoms, and therefore does not satisfy the valence of either atom.  Hydrogen bonds are weak (ca. 5 kcal/mol) and may be frequently broken and reformed in solution at room temperature.
 Bond of a slate or lap of a slate, the distance between the top of one slate and the bottom or drip of the second slate above, i. e., the space which is covered with three thicknesses; also, the distance between the nail of the under slate and the lower edge of the upper slate.
 Bond timber, timber worked into a wall to tie or strengthen it longitudinally.
 Syn: -- Chains; fetters; captivity; imprisonment.


 Chain n.
 1. A series of links or rings, usually of metal, connected, or fitted into one another, used for various purposes, as of support, of restraint, of ornament, of the exertion and transmission of mechanical power, etc.
    [They] put a chain of gold about his neck.   --Dan. v. 29.
 2. That which confines, fetters, or secures, as a chain; a bond; as, the chains of habit.
 Driven down
 To chains of darkness and the undying worm.   --Milton.
 3. A series of things linked together; or a series of things connected and following each other in succession; as, a chain of mountains; a chain of events or ideas.
 4. Surv. An instrument which consists of links and is used in measuring land.
 Note: ☞ One commonly in use is Gunter's chain, which consists of one hundred links, each link being seven inches and ninety-two one hundredths in length; making up the total length of rods, or sixty-six, feet; hence, a measure of that length; hence, also, a unit for land measure equal to four rods square, or one tenth of an acre.
 5. pl. Naut. Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.
 6. Weaving The warp threads of a web.
 Chain belt Mach., a belt made of a chain; -- used for transmitting power.
 Chain boat, a boat fitted up for recovering lost cables, anchors, etc.
 Chain bolt (a) Naut. The bolt at the lower end of the chain plate, which fastens it to the vessel's side. (b) A bolt with a chain attached for drawing it out of position.
 Chain bond. See Chain timber.
 Chain bridge, a bridge supported by chain cables; a suspension bridge.
 Chain cable, a cable made of iron links.
 Chain coral Zool., a fossil coral of the genus Halysites, common in the middle and upper Silurian rocks. The tubular corallites are united side by side in groups, looking in an end view like links of a chain. When perfect, the calicles show twelve septa.
 Chain coupling. (a) A shackle for uniting lengths of chain, or connecting a chain with an object. (b) Railroad Supplementary coupling together of cars with a chain.
 Chain gang, a gang of convicts chained together.
 Chain hook Naut., a hook, used for dragging cables about the deck.
 Chain mail, flexible, defensive armor of hammered metal links wrought into the form of a garment.
 Chain molding Arch., a form of molding in imitation of a chain, used in the Normal style.
 Chain pier, a pier suspended by chain.
 Chain pipe Naut., an opening in the deck, lined with iron, through which the cable is passed into the lockers or tiers.
 Chain plate Shipbuilding, one of the iron plates or bands, on a vessel's side, to which the standing rigging is fastened.
 Chain pulley, a pulley with depressions in the periphery of its wheel, or projections from it, made to fit the links of a chain.
 Chain pumps. See in the Vocabulary.
 Chain rule Arith., a theorem for solving numerical problems by composition of ratios, or compound proportion, by which, when several ratios of equality are given, the consequent of each being the same as the antecedent of the next, the relation between the first antecedent and the last consequent is discovered.
 Chain shot Mil., two cannon balls united by a shot chain, formerly used in naval warfare on account of their destructive effect on a ship's rigging.
 Chain stitch. See in the Vocabulary.
 Chain timber. Arch. See Bond timber, under Bond.
 Chain wales. Naut. Same as Channels.
 Chain wheel. See in the Vocabulary.
 Closed chain, Open chain Chem., terms applied to the chemical structure of compounds whose rational formulæ are written respectively in the form of a closed ring (see Benzene nucleus, under Benzene), or in an open extended form.
 Endless chain, a chain whose ends have been united by a link.