chain reaction

1. 1.

   a series of chemical reactions in which the product of one is a reactant in the next

   Broaderchemical reaction
2. 2.

   a self-sustaining nuclear reaction; a series of nuclear fissions in which neutrons released by splitting one atom leads to the splitting of others

   Broadernuclear reaction

Questions about chain reaction

What does chain reaction mean?

chain reaction means "a series of chemical reactions in which the product of one is a reactant in the next". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

Is chain reaction a common word?

chain reaction is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.