food chain

[food cheyn]

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.

food chain

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

food chain

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

food chain

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.

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of food chain¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Over the past year as demand has risen, health food chain Holland and Barrett has almost doubled its range of mushroom coffees, it told the BBC.

Read more on BBC

These remains indicate that enormous sharks shared the top of the food chain with giant marine reptiles during the Age of Dinosaurs.

Read more on Science Daily

“And I just do what is natural to me. You all have spent so long thinking that you’re at the top of the food chain, but suddenly it’s wrong when someone hunts you?”

Read more on Literature

The pants cost $5.95, less than what she pays for a burger and fries from In-N-Out, her favorite fast food chain.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

U.S. officials should also consider more punishing sanctions for Chinese officials higher up in the food chain who oversee foreign espionage operations that violate norms, such as IP theft or the co-optation of cybercriminals.

Read more on Barron's