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

Raised on a steady diet of war stories, and with a chain-smoking aunt who gave her eyesight and two arms to the cause, the pair join the IRA intending to do more than secretarial work.

From Salon

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