chain stitch

US: (chān′stich′)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

chain′ stitch′, 

1. Clothing a kind of ornamental hand stitching in which each stitch forms a loop through the forward end of the next.
2. Clothing a basic crochet stitch in which yarn is pulled with the crochet hook through a loop on the hook to form a continuous strand of interlocking single loops.
3. Clothing a machine stitch forming a chain on the underside of the fabric.
• 1590–1600

chain•stitch  (chān′stich′), v.t., v.i. 

1. Clothing to sew or crochet using a chain stitch.

• verb, verbal use of chain stitch 1860–65

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

chain stitch noun

1. an ornamental looped embroidery stitch resembling the links of a chain

verb chain-stitch

1. to sew (something) with this stitch