Daisy Chain Definition & Meaning

American

British

Idioms

Etymology

Examples

daisy chain American

noun

1. a string of daisies linked together to form a chain.

2. such a chain used as a garland or carried on festive days by a group of women college students.

3. a series of interconnected or related things or events.

   a daisy chain of legislative delays and stalemates.

4. Slang. a group sexual activity in which the participants serve as active and passive partners to different people simultaneously.

5. Commerce. a series of transactions designed to create the appearance of active trading, as in a particular stock, in order to manipulate the price.

daisy chain British

noun

1. a garland made, esp by children, by threading daisies together

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 daisy chain Idioms

1. A series of connected events, activities, or experiences. For example, The daisy chain of lectures on art history encompassed the last 200 years . This metaphorical term alludes to a string of the flowers linked together. [Mid-1800s]

2. A line or circle of three or more persons engaged in simultaneous sexual activity. For example, A high-class call girl, she drew the line at daisy chains . [ Vulgar slang ; 1920s]

3. A series of securities transactions intended to give the impression of active trading so as to drive up the price. For example, The SEC is on the alert for unscrupulous brokers who are engaging in daisy chains . [1980s]

Etymology

Origin of daisy chain

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And then “the daisy chain of correlated bets” will start to fracture.

From MarketWatch

What all these companies have in common is that they have built internal knowledge factories that daisy chain together small, simple, fast AIs.

From The Wall Street Journal

“It’s been kind of a daisy chain of correlated injury stuff,” Kuntz said.

From Los Angeles Times

Comer is also scrutinizing a daisy chain of transactions beyond those involving Americore.

From Seattle Times

“It all has to work in a daisy chain,” Stern says.

From Scientific American

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.