chain reaction

chain reaction definition - medical

chain reaction

noun
  1. A series of events in which each induces or influences the next.
  2. A series of chemical reactions in which one product of a reacting set is a reactant in the following set.
  3. A multistage nuclear reaction, especially a self-sustaining series of fissions in which the release of neutrons from the splitting of one atom leads to the splitting of others.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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