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

Action is needed both in the near term—to strengthen preparedness against potential disruptions—and over the longer term to diversify supply chains and reduce structural risks. —Fatih Birol, Time, 10 Sep. 2025

Javed Hasan is the CEO and Co-founder of Lineaje, a leader in software supply chain security management. —Javed Hasan, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025

Some cite successful efforts in disrupting criminal fentanyl supply chains. —Brian Mann, NPR, 30 Aug. 2025

Economic necessity New Delhi has sought to position itself as a manufacturing hub for global companies seeking to diversify supply chains away from China. —Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 29 Aug. 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