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

But what causes the black hole’s feeding frenzy to start and later choke off again? —Daniel Clery, science.org, 3 July 2024

But there are better, more professional ways to do this than waiting for a social media feeding frenzy to do the dirty work and finally drive an umpire out. —Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 1 June 2024

This feeding frenzy can seriously benefit some birds. —Benji Jones, Vox, 6 May 2024

The stop-and-go action of these baits give the bass time to locate them in the chaos of the feeding frenzy. —Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 6 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined at sense 1