This week’s theme
Words from chemistry

This week’s words
litmus test
flashpoint
chain reaction
borax
boiling point

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(CHAYN ree-ak-shuhn)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A series of events, each triggered or influenced by the previous.
2. A chemical or nuclear reaction that results in products that cause further reactions.

ETYMOLOGY:

From chain, from Old French chaine/chaeine, from Latin catena (chain) + act, from Latin actus (act). Earliest documented use: 1926.

USAGE:

“The result will be an economic chain reaction affecting nearly everyone in the country.”
Jason Markusoff; Look Up. Way Up: That’s Where the Price of Everything Is Going; Maclean’s (Toronto, Canada); Jan 2022.

See more usage examples of chain reaction in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: