chain-smoke

[ cheyn-smohk ]

verb (used with or without object)

, chain-smoked, chain-smoking.

1. to smoke continually, as by lighting one cigarette, cigar, etc., from the preceding one.

chain-smoke

verb

1. to smoke (cigarettes, etc) continually, esp lighting one from the preceding one

Derived Forms

• chain smoker, noun

Other Words From

• chain smoker chain-smoker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of chain-smoke¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

She spent the month before the festival working 18-hour days in her pajamas, chain-smoking cigarettes.

From Los Angeles Times

He heckled Noel from a balcony while "chain-smoking and guzzling beer," Rolling Stone reported.

From Salon

Patrick is a single, chain-smoking never-was who scavenges leftover bagels, sleeps in his car and gets shut down when he attempts to trade an autographed racquet for the deposit on a motel room.

From Los Angeles Times

But what is apparent after just a few unhurried scenes with the melancholic, chain-smoking Gu — whose mother has recently died, to boot — is that he’s hardly in a space to look after anyone, including himself.

From Los Angeles Times

Denmark's chain-smoking, flamboyant, polyglot Danish queen - who Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described as the "epitome of Denmark" - spent more than half a century on the throne.

From BBC