Meaning & use
food chain
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Meanings
nouncountable
A series of living things in which each one eats the one below it, passing energy along.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a food chain' or 'food chains'.
Patterns
- the food chain
- a food chain
- at the top of the food chain
In a simple food chain, grass is eaten by rabbits, and rabbits are eaten by foxes.
Pollution can build up at the top of the food chain.
Scientists studied how the food chain changed after the fish were introduced.
nounsingularfigurative
The order of importance or power in a group or society, with some people above others.
Grammar: Usually singular and used with 'the', especially in the phrase 'the food chain'.
Patterns
- the food chain
- at the bottom of the food chain
- move up the food chain
Interns are at the bottom of the office food chain.
He worked hard to move up the food chain in the company.
In the political food chain, local officials have the least power.
Word forms
| plural | food chains |
|---|
Common combinations
- top of the food chain
- Humans are often described as being at the top of the food chain.
- marine food chain
- Plastic waste harms the marine food chain.
- break the food chain
- Overfishing can break the food chain in coastal waters.
- part of the food chain
- Insects are an important part of the food chain.
Synonyms and how they differ
- food web
- A food web is a more complex network of many connected food chains, not a single line.
Commonly confused: food chain or food web?
food chain vs food web
A food chain shows one path of eating; a food web shows all the overlapping paths in an ecosystem.
Practice
In the ocean, tiny plants are eaten by small fish, which are eaten by larger fish. What is this an example of?
Choose one answer.
A single line of eating, from plants to small fish to large fish, is a food chain. 'Food web' is wrong because that describes many connected chains, not one path.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “food chain”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.