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

Is Costco trying to compete with a popular fast food chain? —Marley Malenfant, Austin American Statesman, 24 Feb. 2026

The fast food chain announced Tuesday that the Big Arch Burger will debut on March 3 and be sold for a limited time in participating restaurants nationwide. —Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 24 Feb. 2026

Plenty of food chains in Kentucky have deals or limited-time menu items to accommodate for the Lenten season. —Cheryl V. Jackson, Louisville Courier Journal, 20 Feb. 2026

Power plants release the mercury into the atmosphere, which then falls in rain or simply by gravity, entering the food chain through fish and other items that people consume. —Michael Phillis, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026

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