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

Were it found on Earth instead of Mars, the rock’s speckles would likely be interpreted as evidence for a microbial feeding frenzy that occurred long ago. —Humberto Basilio, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2025

When anti-woke figures on the internet pile on young women, the blogosphere is often able to recognize it as a misogynist feeding frenzy. —Nate Jones, Vulture, 31 July 2025

Needless to say, news of the tariffs being paused for 90 days was a lifeline for the global economy and started an initial feeding frenzy in the markets. —Beck Andrew Salgado, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025

Battle for Shark Mountain - Off Mozambique’s coast, sharks swarm a hidden peak, hunting Giant Trevally in a once-a-year feeding frenzy. —Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 20 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined at sense 1