food chain

plural food chains

1. The feeding relationships between species in a biotic community.

   1 more example

   Nanomaterials, substances broken down by technology into molecule-size particles, are starting to enter the food chain through well-known food products and their packaging, but there is little acknowledgment by the companies using them, according to a new report from a nonprofit group that works to enhance corporate accountability.

   2013 February 6, Stephanie Strom, “Study Looks at Particles Used in Food”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2019

2. idiomaticA hierarchy.

   With my promotion this month I will continue my steady journey to the top of the food chain.

   3 more examples

   He, too, was a meat puppet. Unable to make any decision without imagined repercussions from above, he chose to make none and instead passed his decision onto the next guy up the food chain.

   1998, Luke Sullivan, "Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This": A Guide to Creating Great Ads, page 164

   At the top of the food chain is PJ's, whose pizza wins high accolades, and whose menu of fat sandwiches (a local delicacy that stuffs as many deep-fried items into a roll as possible) is extensive.

   2012, Renee Pires, Day Trips from Philadelphia, page 43

   Finding realistic needle-moving signings is especially hard when clubs do not want to sell at this stage of a campaign, while you are eternally at the mercy of those with bigger teeth and sharper claws further up the food chain.

   2026 February 3, Glenn Speller, “Championship transfer window winners and losers”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 04 Feb 2026