Phrase guide

food chain

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The feeding relationships between species in a biotic community.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A hierarchy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

(ecology) a community of organisms where each member is eaten in turn by another member

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: organic phenomenon

History

Etymology

From food + chain.

Across languages

Translations

73 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: voedselketting — feeding relationship between species
  • Azerbaijani: qida zənciri — feeding relationship between species
  • Basque: kate trofiko — feeding relationship between species
  • Belarusian: ланцуг харчавання (lancuh xarčavannja) — feeding relationship between species
  • Belarusian: харчовы ланцуг (xarčóvy lancuh) — feeding relationship between species
  • Bulgarian: хранителна верига (hranitelna veriga) — feeding relationship between species
  • Catalan: cadena tròfica — feeding relationship between species
  • Chinese Mandarin: 食物鏈 /食物链 (shíwùliàn) — feeding relationship between species
  • Chinese Mandarin: 營養鏈 /营养链 (yíngyǎngliàn) — feeding relationship between species
  • Czech: potravní řetězec — feeding relationship between species
  • Danish: fødekæde — feeding relationship between species
  • Dutch: voedselketen — feeding relationship between species
  • Esperanto: nutroĉeno — feeding relationship between species
  • Estonian: toitumisahel — feeding relationship between species
  • Finnish: ravintoketju — feeding relationship between species
  • French: chaîne alimentaire — feeding relationship between species
  • Galician: cadea alimenticia — feeding relationship between species
  • Galician: cadea trófica — feeding relationship between species
  • German: Nahrungskette — feeding relationship between species
  • Greek: τροφική αλυσίδα (trofikí alysída) — feeding relationship between species
  • Hebrew: שרשרת מזון (sharsheret mazon) — feeding relationship between species
  • Hungarian: tápláléklánc — feeding relationship between species
  • Icelandic: fæðukeðja — feeding relationship between species
  • Ido: nutriva kateno — feeding relationship between species
  • Indonesian: rantai makanan — feeding relationship between species
  • Irish: slabhra bia — feeding relationship between species
  • Irish: biashlabhra — feeding relationship between species
  • Italian: catena alimentare — feeding relationship between species
  • Japanese: 食物連鎖 (shokumotsu rensa) — feeding relationship between species
  • Korean: 먹이 사슬 (meogi saseul) — feeding relationship between species
  • Latvian: barības ķēde — feeding relationship between species
  • Lithuanian: mitybos grandinė — feeding relationship between species
  • Macedonian: синџир на исхрана (sindžir na ishrana) — feeding relationship between species
  • Macedonian: ланец на исхрана (lanec na ishrana) — feeding relationship between species
  • Marathi: अन्नसाखळी (annasākhḷī) — feeding relationship between species
  • Norwegian Bokmål: næringskjede — feeding relationship between species
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: næringskjede — feeding relationship between species
  • Polish: łańcuch pokarmowy — feeding relationship between species
  • Portuguese: cadeia alimentar — feeding relationship between species
  • Portuguese: cadeia trófica — feeding relationship between species
  • Punjabi: ਖੁਰਾਕ ਲੜੀ (khurāk laṛī) — feeding relationship between species
  • Romanian: lanț trofic — feeding relationship between species
  • Romansh: chadaina da nutriment — feeding relationship between species
  • Russian: пищева́я цепь (piščevája cepʹ) — feeding relationship between species
  • Russian: трофи́ческая цепь (trofíčeskaja cepʹ) — feeding relationship between species
  • Scottish Gaelic: sreath-bìdh — feeding relationship between species
  • Serbo-Croatian: ланац исхране — feeding relationship between species
  • Serbo-Croatian: lanac ishrane — feeding relationship between species
  • Slovak: potravinový reťazec — feeding relationship between species
  • Slovene: prehranjevalna veriga — feeding relationship between species
  • Spanish: cadena alimentaria — feeding relationship between species
  • Spanish: cadena trófica — feeding relationship between species
  • Spanish: cadena manducatoria — feeding relationship between species
  • Swahili: mzunguko wa chakula — feeding relationship between species
  • Swedish: näringskedja — feeding relationship between species
  • Thai: ห่วงโซ่อาหาร (hùuang-sôo-aa-hǎan) — feeding relationship between species
  • Turkish: besin zinciri — feeding relationship between species
  • Ukrainian: харчовий ланцюжок (xarčovyj lancjužok) — feeding relationship between species
  • Ukrainian: харчовий ланцюг (xarčovyj lancjuh) — feeding relationship between species
  • Vietnamese: chuỗi thức ăn — feeding relationship between species
  • Welsh: cadwyn fwyd — feeding relationship between species
  • Chinese Mandarin: 食物鏈 /食物链 (shíwùliàn) — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 等級制度 /等级制度 (děngjí zhìdù) — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 階層 /阶层 (jiēcéng) — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 层次 (céngcì) — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Danish: fødekæde — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Danish: hakkeorden — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Dutch: pikorde — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Finnish: ravintoketju — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Hungarian: tápláléklánc — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Japanese: 食物連鎖 (shokumotsu-rensa) — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Korean: 식물 연쇄 (singmul yeonswae) — idiomatic: a hierarchy
  • Portuguese: cadeia alimentar — idiomatic: a hierarchy