feeding frenzy

noun

plural feeding frenzies

1

: a frenzy of eating : a wildly aggressive attack of prey by an animal or group of animals

sharks in a feeding frenzy

Chemoreception seems to be highly developed in this snake and the smell of prey is sufficient to initiate a feeding frenzy.

—Douglas Cable et al.

2

: an intensely and often wildly competitive and aggressive human activity likened to frenzied feeding by predatory animals

They do not relish the journalistic feeding frenzy that will greet the senator's likely appearance on the witness stand.

—U.S. News & World Report

Most of the Westerners who attended the heavily hyped sale knew very little about Soviet art—or the Soviet Union for that matter—but were whipped into a feeding frenzy by the historic excitement of the moment.

—Harlow Robinson

Examples of feeding frenzy in a Sentence

sharks in a feeding frenzy

Recent Examples on the Web

What beauty there was in it was a matter of distance, fairy lights twinkling on heavy, heaving water, not seeing the feeding frenzy beneath the surface. —Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025

Apple’s Surprise iPhone Update Fixes 1 Bug, Adds 1 Frustration Much of this resurgence in activity occurred in early-stage transactions as investors sought to participate in the AI feeding frenzy. —Truebridge Capital, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025

More than two dozen crabs were involved in the feeding frenzy, including one that appeared to have gotten inside the jellyfish and was eating its way out. —Mark Price, Miami Herald, 12 Mar. 2025

Their constant feeding frenzy fuels the ocean’s ecosystem, while their movements help transport carbon-laden matter deeper into the sea. —Scott Travers, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined at sense 1