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

Chesney, 48, has been a head coach at the NCAA Division III, II, FCS and G5 level, and will now lead the Bruins at the top of the college football food chain in the Big Ten Conference. —Austin Turner, CBS News, 6 Dec. 2025

If there are no zooplankton around, there can be a ripple effect up the food chain, especially on the fish that depend on zooplankton. —Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 5 Dec. 2025

Shares of the food chain are down 2% early this morning. —Jim Cramer, CNBC, 3 Dec. 2025

Some of the metals that settled in the estuary could enter the food chain in this wildlife hot spot, often populated with sea otters, harbor seals, pelicans and herons. —Ivano W. Aiello, The Conversation, 1 Dec. 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