food chain

American  

[food cheyn] / ˈfud ˌtʃeɪn /

noun

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.

Etymology

Origin of food chain

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Research has shown plastic particles moving through the food chain, as well as through soil, water and air.

From The Wall Street Journal

Because the midge has no known land based predators, plastic it consumes is unlikely to move far up the food chain.

From Science Daily

After being laid off in a restructuring, she landed a job as marketing director for a food chain, a faster-paced role overseeing frequent restaurant openings.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The ants were adding nutrients to the mud and hastening the reestablishment of less ad hoc food chains,” he wrote.

From Literature

Polar bears were just the biggest, baddest, most obvious part of the food chain.

From Literature