food chain

A food chain is a system where a small animal is the food for a larger animal which, in turn, is the food for an even larger animal. (noun)

An example of food chain is a fly being eaten by a frog and then the frog is eaten by a larger animal.

See food chain in Webster's New World College Dictionary

Ecol. a sequence (as grass, rabbit, fox) of organisms in a community in which each member feeds on the one below it

See food chain in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A succession of organisms in an ecological community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower member and in turn is preyed upon by a higher member.
Informal A competitive hierarchy: “was reduced to character roles while struggling to defend his position in the Hollywood food chain” (Kathryn Shattuck).

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