supply chain

noun

plural supply chains

: the chain of processes, businesses, etc. by which a commodity is produced and distributed : the companies, materials, and systems involved in manufacturing and delivering goods

The pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of the global supply chain—that's the usually invisible pathway of manufacturing, transportation and logistics that gets goods from where they are manufactured, mined or grown to where they are going. At the end of the chain is another company or a consumer who has paid for the finished product.

—Peter S. Goodman

Everyday life in the United States is acutely dependent on the perpetual motion of the supply chain, in which food and medicine and furniture and clothing all compete for many of the same logistical resources. … [W]hen a finite supply of packaging can't keep up with demand, when there aren't enough longshoremen or truck drivers or postal workers, when a container ship gets wedged sideways in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes—the effects ripple outward for weeks or months, emptying shelves and raising prices in ways that can seem random. All of a sudden, you can't buy kettlebells or canned seltzer.

—Amanda Mull

Examples of supply chain in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This means supply chain issues would be less severe for conventional carrier groups, but reliability and capacity in the short term needs to take precedence. —Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025

The design and supply chain established for Hinkley Point C are intended to support the Sizewell C project. —Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Dec. 2025

Jingdong Industrials, focused on supply chain tech, hopes to raise approximately $412 million. —Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 3 Dec. 2025

FedEx wasn’t the only company in the apparel supply chain experiencing layoffs in the Lone Star State last month. —Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 3 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for supply chain

• aeroplane
• appertain
• ascertain
• capitaine
• cassegrain
• cellophane
• chatelaine
• counterpane
• entertain
• gethsemane
• halothane
• hurricane