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

They’re the base of the aquatic food chain, fed on by herbivores of all shapes and sizes, including shrimp and juvenile fish, which in turn feed organisms higher up the food chain.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2026

João Valentim and his friends, a group made up of Portuguese graduate students traveling from Madrid, have also been trying "mostly fast food, chain restaurants that we don't have in our own country."

From BBC • Jun. 19, 2026

Its elongated body, thick rigid scales, powerful tail fin, and large upward-facing mouth all point to an active predator near the top of the food chain.

From Science Daily • Jun. 12, 2026

Under that scenario, Kunisch would expect price increases all along the food chain, starting with the prices paid for young cattle at livestock auctions to beef packers — the meat-processing companies that buy cattle.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026

So avoiding the industrial food chain isn’t just a matter of principle.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan