food chains

plural of food chain
as in hierarchies
a series of types of living things in which each one uses the next lower member of the series as a source of food Sharks eat fish that are lower in the food chain. animals that are at the top of the food chain

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of food chains Similar trends are playing out at fast food chains and sit-down restaurants. Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026 On Friday, July 17, Taylor Farms — which supplies produce for pre-packaged salads in grocery stores and ingredients for fast food chains — announced a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce sourced to the region by the FDA. Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 21 July 2026 Some food chains are ready to deal with any barriers to growth because there are so many consumers in the state. Lily Wright, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2026 High Street leaned heavily collegiate, lined with pizza parlors, student bars, and familiar franchised food chains. Rafael Pena, Travel + Leisure, 12 July 2026 Fast food chains such as Taco Bell, McDonald's and Wendy's also have footprints at Walmart stores, along with several regional operators such as Auntie Anne's. Nicholas P. Brown, USA Today, 8 June 2026 Italy’s already squeezed farmers are under strain by large supermarket and food chains. Matteo Moschella, NBC news, 4 June 2026 Here are the latest specials and deals announced by fast food chains in news releases, social media posts, or on their websites. Fielding Buck, Oc Register, 3 June 2026 Which fast food chains use beef tallow today Beef tallow never disappeared entirely, and a handful of chains have either kept it or brought it back. Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 18 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for food chains
Noun
  • Depending on the club, the hierarchies are still clear, and there might be little overlap between those positions.
    Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • While mapping these structural hierarchies is a foundational data modeling challenge, the piece that most organizations completely underestimate is the dynamic signal layer.
    Filip Popovic, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Lemon mostly worked in personnel groupings with Smith and Wicks.
    Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The Phase One regional groupings for the Leagues Cup were as follows.
    Jason Cohen, PC Magazine, 24 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • The team also traded away Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos for prospects, further thinning their ranks.
    Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will soon join the ranks of iconic observatories like the Hubble and James Webb telescopes – plumbing the far reaches of the cosmos to answer some of life's greatest mysteries.
    Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Food chains.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/food%20chains. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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