food chain

American  

[food cheyn] / ˈfud ˌtʃeɪn /

noun

• food chains
  plural

1. Ecology. a series of organisms interrelated in their feeding habits, the smallest being fed upon by a larger one, which in turn feeds a still larger one, etc.

2. the chain from a food source to the ultimate consumer.

3. a hierarchy ranked by status, importance, influence, etc..

   people who are high up on the political and media food chain.

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food chain British  

noun

1. ecology a sequence of organisms in an ecosystem in which each species is the food of the next member of the chain

2. informal the hierarchy in an organization or society

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food chain Scientific  

/ fo̅o̅d /

1. The sequence of the transfer of food energy from one organism to another in an ecological community. A food chain begins with a producer, usually a green plant or alga that creates its own food through photosynthesis. In the typical predatory food chain, producers are eaten by primary consumers (herbivores) which are eaten by secondary consumers (carnivores), some of which may in turn be eaten by tertiary consumers (the top carnivore in the chain).

2. ◆ Many species of animals in an ecological community feed on both plants and animals and thus play multiple roles in the chain. Parasites feed on living tissues, generally without killing their hosts, and may themselves be hosts to smaller parasites. In addition, organisms that die without being eaten are consumed by detritivores, some of which serve as prey for other consumers. The complex system of interrelated food chains in an environment is known as a food web.

3. See more at trophic level

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food chain Cultural  

1. The series of steps by which energy is obtained, used, and transformed by living things. For example: sunlight helps grain to grow, the grain feeds cattle, and humans eat the cattle.

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Discover More

Harmful chemicals can become concentrated as they move up the food chain.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• food chains
  plural

Etymology

Origin of food chain

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

food chain

Circle of life in Hollywood, and nobody at any level of the food chain should ever be surprised when it’s their turn.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Perhaps, just like in the food chain, there will be another bigger predator that takes over the city, a secret third thing that turns this generic Roblox neighborhood into something even more unrecognizable.

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

DIY store B&Q and the fast food chain Five Guys are among hundreds of UK businesses named by the government for paying staff below the minimum wage.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Its immense size placed it near the top of the food chain, where it may have done more than simply hunt individual animals.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

But it’s real life for the billions of animals unlucky enough to have been born into the industrial food chain.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan