daisy chain

noun, verb — 17 senses

daisy chain

nounalso spelled daisy-chain

UK /ˈdeɪzi t͡ʃeɪn/ · US /ˈdeɪzi ˌt͡ʃeɪn/

Etymology The noun is derived from daisy + chain. The verb is derived from the noun.

12 senses
  1. 1A garland to be worn on the head, made (usually as a…
  2. 2A thing resembling a daisy chain (noun sense 1) in…
  3. 3A small strip of webbing with multiple loops, which…
  4. 4A group of dealers who buy and sell a commodity…
  5. 5A ladder consisting of loops of nylon tape connected…
  6. 6A large nylon loop sewn together at intervals along the…
  7. 7A bus wiring scheme in which a series of devices are…
  8. 8Several electrical or electronic devices linked in…
  9. 9A series of samplers, sequencers, synthesizers, or other…
  10. 10A series of complicated personal relationships in which…
  11. 11A group-sex formation involving multiple partners, with…
  12. 12A sequence of events where each one leads to the next.
1

A garland to be worn on the head, made (usually as a pastime) by sewing or otherwise linking the stems of the flowers of daisies (Bellis perennis) into a ring.

2

Broadly A thing resembling a daisy chain (noun sense 1) in having several elements connected together, often in a circle.

  • And, for her father, it seemed as if it were a home-like, comfortable thought to him, that her mother had one of her children with her. He called her [his deceased daughter] the first link of his Daisy Chain drawn up out of sight; […]1856, [Charlotte Mary Yonge], chapter XXV, in The Daisy Chain; or, Aspirations. A Family Chronicle. […], London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], →OCLC, part II, page 641:
3

Broadly A small strip of webbing with multiple loops, which allows a backpacker to secure several objects to the exterior of a backpack.

4

Business Broadly A group of dealers who buy and sell a commodity (originally crude oil, especially in a single shipment) among themselves in order to artificially increase its price before it is sold to a party outside the group.

5

Climbing, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Broadly A ladder consisting of loops of nylon tape connected together which are used as footholds.

6

Climbing, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Broadly A large nylon loop sewn together at intervals along the midlength, used to decelerate a falling free climber.

7

Business, Computing, Electrical engineering, Electricity, Electromagnetism, Electronics, Energy, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics, Sciences Also, Broadly A bus wiring scheme in which a series of devices are connected in sequence: A to B, B to C, C to D, etc.

8

Business, Electrical, Electrical engineering, Electricity, Electromagnetism, Electronics, Energy, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics Also, Broadly Several electrical or electronic devices linked in series by their data or power connections, or both.

9

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Broadly A series of samplers, sequencers, synthesizers, or other MIDI devices used in electronic music connected to one another in a chain through MIDI cables.

10

Lifestyle, Sexuality Broadly A series of complicated personal relationships in which, over time, people have had different partners who have themselves had other partners within the same group of people.

11

Lifestyle, Sexuality Broadly, Slang A group-sex formation involving multiple partners, with the participants lying in a circle, each one performing oral sex on another person.

  • The whole feeling-and-sensation market has shot up—shock, scandal priced out of range for the average man. You have to do more than take a little gas, or slash the wrists. Pot? Zero! Daisy chains? Nothing! Debauchery? A museum word from prelibidinous times!1964 September 21, Saul Bellow, Herzog, New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →OCLC, page 179:
12

Figuratively A sequence of events where each one leads to the next.

  • Like Brad Bird's playfully virtuosic Ghost Protocol, the high point of this franchise in more ways than one, Fallout creates an endless daisy chain of spectacle, so that one stunning display of acrobatic nerve is barely over before another begins.2018 July 25, A. A. Dowd, “Fallout may be the Most Breathlessly Intense Mission: Impossible Adventure Yet”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 31 Jul 2018:
Derived terms
daisy-chainer
Related terms
Ethernet

daisy-chain

verb

UK /ˈdeɪzit͡ʃeɪn/ · US /ˈdeɪziˌt͡ʃeɪn/

Etymology The verb is derived from daisy chain (noun).

1

Business To artificially increase (the price of a commodity; originally crude oil, especially in a single shipment) by a group of dealers buying and selling it among themselves before it is sold to a party outside the group.

2

Business, Computing, Electrical engineering, Electricity, Electromagnetism, Electronics, Energy, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics, Sciences To connect (several computer devices or peripherals, or other components) in sequence with each other, usually such that the output of one component forms the input of another; also (followed by to), to connect (a computer device, peripheral, or other component) to another component in such a sequence.

  • We daisy-chained several USB hubs to see if we could reach the far side of the room.
  • The jacks can be ‘daisy-chained’ and controlled as a synchronised set.2021 November 3, “Network News: Lifting Jacks for SWR”, in Rail, number 943, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 29:
3

Of people, animals, etc.: to position in a line and move like a chain.

4

Business To artificially increase the price of a commodity (originally crude oil, especially in a single shipment) by a group of dealers buying and selling it among themselves before it is sold to a party outside the group.

5

Business, Computing, Electrical engineering, Electricity, Electromagnetism, Electronics, Energy, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics, Sciences Especially of a computer device, peripheral, or other component: to be capable of being connected with other components in sequence.

  • These peripherals are designed to daisy-chain easily with each other.
Derived terms
daisy-chained, daisy-chaining

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for daisy chain and daisy-chain.