feeding frenzy

noun

plural feeding frenzies

1

: a frenzy of eating : a wildly aggressive attack of prey by an animal or group of animals

sharks in a feeding frenzy

Chemoreception seems to be highly developed in this snake and the smell of prey is sufficient to initiate a feeding frenzy.

—Douglas Cable et al.

2

: an intensely and often wildly competitive and aggressive human activity likened to frenzied feeding by predatory animals

They do not relish the journalistic feeding frenzy that will greet the senator's likely appearance on the witness stand.

—U.S. News & World Report

Most of the Westerners who attended the heavily hyped sale knew very little about Soviet art—or the Soviet Union for that matter—but were whipped into a feeding frenzy by the historic excitement of the moment.

—Harlow Robinson

Examples of feeding frenzy in a Sentence

sharks in a feeding frenzy

Recent Examples on the Web

Shark Week 2024 will include Belly of the Beast Pt. 2, the next chapter in Shark Week's fascinating, real-life look at a great white shark feeding frenzy. —Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 30 May 2024

While fish in some areas might recognize annual cicadas, the general assumption among fishermen is that there typically aren’t enough of these bugs to really trigger a feeding frenzy most years. —Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 22 May 2024

Sure enough, a feeding frenzy ensued for offensive players of all types, including tackles. —Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 29 Apr. 2024

The West Fork is also known for an epic salmon fly hatch that incites a trout feeding frenzy each summer. —Travis Hall, Field & Stream, 8 May 2024

The percussion is the smacking lips of countless barbel, a type of catfish, in a feeding frenzy. —Alex Postman, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Apr. 2024

Sharks will attack anything that moves or vibrates when they’re worked up into a feeding frenzy, Glasner explained to reporters. —Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 7 Mar. 2024

Crozier, president of the North Central Phoenix Homeowners Association, fears passage of the bill would mean a feeding frenzy for developers. —The Arizona Republic, 6 Mar. 2024

Since 2010, Series Mania has grown in synch with the world’s fast-ramping premium cable TV, and then U.S. feeding frenzy for high-end drama, powerful new OTT entrants, and a content-creation reaction among incumbent TV operators and new SVOD players around the world. —John Hopewell, Variety, 15 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined at sense 1