chain reaction

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English

Diagram of a nuclear chain reaction.

Pronunciation

Noun

chain reaction (plural chain reactions)

  1. (physical chemistry) A chemical reaction where the products of the reaction influence the reactants of a following reaction, leading to positive feedback.
    polymerase chain reaction
  2. (nuclear physics) A nuclear reaction in which particles produced by the fission of one atom trigger fissions of other atoms.
    The Manhattan Project produced the first recorded controlled chain reaction.
  3. (figurative) A series of events, each one causing or influencing the next.
    • 1980, George Benson, “Give Me the Night (song)”, in Give Me the Night (album):
      You need the evening action / A place to dine, a glass of wine, a little late romance / It's a chain reaction / You'll see the people of the world coming out to dance
    • 2010, Robert W. Kolb, Lessons from the Financial Crisis‎, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:
      That is, systemic risk is the risk of a chain reaction of falling interconnected dominos.

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