chain latch

noun

chain latch

noun

1

A door chain.

[Mitral stenosis] is apparently due to the sudden tension on the edges of the mitral valve when, with ventricular diastole, it starts to open widely but cannot. It may well be compared to the opening of a door protected by a chain latch;1917, Austin Flint and Henry C. Thacher, A Manual of Physical Diagnosis, 7th edition, page 332:
Dov slipped the chain latch into place and opened the door a crack.1958, Leon Uris, chapter 14, in Exodus, page 429:

1 more example

The door opened, but only a little bit. Harris didn’t take off the chain latch, and Rhodes could see only a bit of his face through the opening.2013, Bill Crider, chapter 16, in Compound Murder, page 176:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.