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

Using chemical clues from Neanderthal bones, researchers have placed the species at the top of the food chain, alongside apex predators like lions – feasting on big animals such as mammoths or bison. —Jay Kakade december 31, New Atlas, 31 Dec. 2025

Rat poison ends up in the wildlife food chain, killing the very animals that eat rats, like owls and bobcats. —Lisa Bloch, Mercury News, 30 Dec. 2025

When panels are smashed in unauthorized scrap yards or tossed into landfills, these toxins seep into groundwater and eventually enter the food chain. —Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 26 Dec. 2025

Here are the fast food chains that will be open on Christmas Day. —Jordan Green, Nashville Tennessean, 24 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