drag-chain|-tʃeɪn|1.A chain used to retard the motion of a vehicle; esp.‘a strong chain, with a large hook to hitch on the hind wheel, and keep it from turning when descending a hill’ (Felton Carriages, 1801).a1791Warton in BoswellJohnson an. 1754 (Visit Oxford)He cried out ‘Sufflamina’..as much as to say, ‘Put on your drag chain’.1829GloverHist.Derby I. 188On arriving at the top of a steep hill, the carter takes off all his trace horses, and hooks them to the drag chain behind.fig.1830Gen.P. Thompson Exerc.(1842) I. 276The minister whose melancholy duty it is to act as a drag-chain upon the progress of liberal ideas.1838LyttonAlice iii. viii,To take from my wheels the drag-chain of disreputable debt.a1871GrotePlatoPref.(1875) 9The perpetual drag-chain..upon free speculation.2.The strong chain by which railway wagons, etc. are coupled: see dragn.9.