Word.ws English Dictionary

forechain

forechain noun: a chain securing the lower shrouds of the foremast.

Noun

forechain (plural forechains)

  1. (plural-normally) A chain securing the lower shrouds of the foremast.
    • "Slip into the lee forechains, Billy; there is something in the wind. […]"1924, Herman Melville, chapter 12, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.

Forms of forechain

pluralforechains

Origin of forechain

From fore- + chain.

Questions about forechain

What does forechain mean?
Forechain means a chain securing the lower shrouds of the foremast.
What part of speech is forechain?
Forechain is a noun.
What is the plural of forechain?
The plural of forechain is forechains.

Words near forechain in the dictionary

  1. forecatching
  2. forecaught
  3. forecaution
  4. forecautioned
  5. forecautions
  6. forechain
  7. forechains
  8. forecharge
  9. forecharges
  10. forechase
  11. forechases

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: forechain (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “forechain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/forechain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.