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

Iran has blocked the waterway since the war began, driving up fuel prices and disrupting global supply chains and travel. —Arkansas Online, 19 Mar. 2026

But midstream — the unglamorous world of pipelines, storage tanks, and port facilities — could be a less obvious winner, as countries reprioritize maximum flexibility of supply chains. —Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 19 Mar. 2026

Since diesel is the lifeblood of the supply chain, a sudden rise in fuel costs will all but certainly result in higher prices charged by wholesalers in response to elevated transport expenses, some analysts said. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 19 Mar. 2026

The Jones Act has been temporarily suspended in the past, primarily for urgent economic or supply chain issues, such as to aid Puerto Rico after it was hit by a hurricane in 2022 and following a cyberattack on a fuel pipeline in 2021. —Christopher Niezrecki, The Conversation, 19 Mar. 2026

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