How to Use chain reaction in a Sentence

chain reaction

noun
  • Increased oil prices could trigger a chain reaction in the economy.
  • The struggle to raise cash has threatened to set off a chain reaction.
    Jeanna Smialek, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2020
  • None of those set off a chain reaction that pushed the U.S. economy into a contraction.
    Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post, 30 Jan. 2020
  • This set off a chain reaction of diplomatic spats between Stockholm and Beijing.
    Annabelle Timsit, Quartz, 1 May 2020
  • This cheesy game for kids ages 6 and up gives a lesson or two in chain reactions and construction in addition to more traditional gameplay.
    Popular Science, 31 Mar. 2020
  • But each sets off a complicated chain reaction that ripples through the organization.
    Emmanuel Morgan, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2020
  • The experiment offered a glimpse of the complex chain reaction that occurs when an exotic plant is introduced.
    Ula Chrobak, Popular Science, 28 May 2020
  • Though there were attempts to shut down the reactor entirely, another power surge caused a chain reaction of explosions inside the plant.
    Fox News, 2 Mar. 2020
  • Following that simple advice might be an easy step to kick off the chain reaction of visible, and invisible, benefits.
    Leslie Nemo, Discover Magazine, 13 May 2020
  • The coronavirus test uses a chemical chain reaction to detect tiny traces of the virus' genetic material and reproduce it many times.
    Matthew Perrone, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Mar. 2020
  • The disease had spread to at least twenty-four countries, sparking fears of a global scourge, as well as an economic chain reaction, as China’s economic behemoth fell silent.
    Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 12 Feb. 2020
  • Patrick Smith / Getty Images During the homestretch, a chain reaction sent four other runners toppling.
    Susan Baek, NBC News, 7 Aug. 2024
  • In fact, the chain reactions unleashed during the explosion produced a blast almost three times as big as predicted—1,000 times bigger than the Hiroshima bomb.
    Carl Zimmer, The Atlantic, 20 Mar. 2020
  • The events of No Way Home will then set off a chain reaction.
    Jacob Siegal, BGR, 14 July 2021
  • The song started a chain reaction of dance both on stage and in the audience.
    Rory Appleton, The Indianapolis Star, 11 July 2022
  • He got caught in a chain reaction crash in Turn 12 barely a quarter of the way through the race and finished 35th.
    Dave Kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3 July 2021
  • This sets off the chain reaction that ends with the Taylor-Prince-Chuck alliance.
    Sarene Leeds, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2021
  • The chain reaction pushed prices higher at every link along the way.
    New York Times, 9 Dec. 2021
  • Even a change of a few degrees would have been enough to trigger a chain reaction that caused the food chain to collapse.
    Mike Wehner, BGR, 30 Mar. 2021
  • The world’s struggles are ‘piling up like cars in a chain reaction crash,’ U.N. chief says.
    Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2023
  • In the blink of an eye, the float was pulled under water, triggering a chain reaction on the club's grounds.
    Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 25 Apr. 2021
  • The bank’s failure set off a chain reaction that has coursed through the global banking system in the weeks since.
    Jeanna Smialek, BostonGlobe.com, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Challenge someone this year with a gift that gives a chain reaction for good.
    Angela Belt, House Beautiful, 14 Dec. 2022
  • In the Little Boy, a bullet-like projectile made of uranium-235 was fired at a core of the same substance to set off the chain reaction.
    Popular Mechanics, 26 May 2023
  • Russell was struck by the first vehicle in the chain reaction.
    Camila Pedrosa, The Arizona Republic, 26 Sep. 2022
  • In the end, Favors’ man has to help, leaving for a chain reaction of passes that ends up as a Clarkson three.
    Andy Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 May 2021
  • Those warmer waters can set off a chain reaction of climate effects around the world.
    Leigh Morgan, al, 13 Apr. 2023
  • The flooding creates a chain reaction in the engine and the batteries that made the parts more likely to catch on fire, the agency said.
    Matt Gutman, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2022
  • Three vehicles were unable to stop and were struck in a chain reaction.
    Deanese Williams-Harris, chicagotribune.com, 5 Feb. 2022
  • Nath suspects the wide mix of autoantibodies seen in patients points to some earlier chain reaction in the immune system, perhaps from fragments of lingering virus.
    Byjennifer Couzin-Frankel, science.org, 21 June 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chain reaction.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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