food pyramid

noun

1

: an ecological hierarchy of food relationships in which a chief predator is at the top, each level preys on the next lower level, and usually green plants are at the bottom

2

: a pyramid-shaped depiction of recommended daily servings for different food groups (such as vegetables, grains, dairy products, and meats)

Examples of food pyramid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The creatures from Passau fed more on prey from lower levels of the food pyramid, probably due to lack of bigger fish in the area. —Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 May 2025

Typically, the higher up in a food pyramid an animal is, the lower the presence of zinc. —Stephanie Edwards, Discover Magazine, 27 May 2025

Larger sharks such as sand tiger sharks were further up the food pyramid, and at the top were giant sharks like Araloselachus cuspidatus and the Otodus shark genus, which includes Megalodon. —Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 May 2025

These ships also risk causing turbidity, making the water opaque by stirring up the seafloor, and thereby harming the balance of species and food pyramid. —Ian Urbina, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

food pyramid

noun

: a series of levels of ecological food relationships arranged by levels in which a chief predator is at the top, each level preys on the next lower level, and green plants are usually at the bottom