food web

American

[food web] / ˈfud ˌwɛb /

noun

Ecology.

a series of organisms related by predator-prey and consumer-resource interactions; the entirety of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.

food web British

noun

a combination of food chains that integrate to form a network

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

food web Scientific

See under food chain

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

food webs

plural

Etymology

Origin of food web

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

food web

They help maintain the balance of woodland habitats by influencing soil health, insect populations and the wider food web.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

Reavie usually studies algae in the Great Lakes, where they make up the base of the freshwater food web, supporting an ecosystem that in turn supports a $5 billion fishing economy.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026

Microplastics, along with ultra-tiny nanoplastics, can kill or severely sicken marine life before entering the food web and ultimately ending up on our plates.

From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena wanted to understand how these chemical defenses move through the forest food web.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 1, 2026

To uncover this ancient food web, McGill researchers analyzed all known animal fossils from a single geological formation in central Colombia.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 19, 2025

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023