ˈchain-plate
1. Naut. [see chain n. 14.] One of the strong links or plates of iron fastened to the ship's side under the chainwale, to which the shrouds are secured.
| 1692 in Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. i. xiv. 64 Main Chains and Chain Plaits. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Cadenes de haubans, the chains of the shrouds, the chain-plates. 1840 R. Dana Bef. Mast xxix. 106 We were loaded down to the bolts of our chain-plates. |
2. Arch. One of a series of connected plates built into the walls of a building to give it greater stability: cf. chain n. 10.
| 1842 Gwilt Archit. (1876) §1882 The best remedy against this inconvenience [settlement of the foundation] is to tie the walls together by the means of chain plates. |