food chain

noun

1

: an arrangement of the organisms of an ecological community according to the order of predation in which each uses the next usually lower member as a food source

2

: a hierarchy based on power or importance

at the top of the corporate food chain

Examples of food chain in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Mercury can accumulate through the food chain, threatening plants and animals that consume it, including rice — one of the region’s largest exports. —Helen Regan, CNN Money, 26 Nov. 2025

Atmospheric pollutants poisoned the marine-mammal food chain in Scoresby Sound, from fish to seals to bears to people. —Ben Taub, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025

But according to Deepali Vyas, a recruiter who has interviewed more than 50,000 executives over her career, the real culprits aren’t always at the bottom of the corporate food chain (C-players), or those at the top (A-players). —Dave Smith, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2025

The fast food chain was cited after health inspectors watched an employee fail to wash their hands after handling a broom before putting on gloves and handling beef patties. —Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado, Sacbee.com, 21 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for food chain

• abstain
• airplane
• alkane
• arcane
• arraign
• attain
• backplane
• betaine
• biplane
• blockchain
• butane
• campaign

Kids Definition

food chain

noun

: a series of organisms in which each uses the next usually lower member of the series as a food source