pecking order

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See synonyms for pecking order on Thesaurus.com

noun

Animal Behavior. a dominance hierarchy, seen especially in domestic poultry, that is maintained by one bird pecking another of lower status.

a sequence or hierarchy of authority in an organization or social group.

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Sometimes peck order .

Origin of pecking order

First recorded in 1925–30

Words nearby pecking order

Pechenga, Pechora, peck, pecker, peckerwood, pecking order, Peckinpah, peckish, Peck's Bad Boy, pecksniff, Pecksniffian

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pecking order in a sentence

Brooklyn’s remaining star in Durant can and will do more for the Nets, but Griffin will have to slide up in the pecking order when he’s on the floor.
Blake Griffin Was A Luxury Pickup. Now The Nets Need Him.|Louis Zatzman|June 15, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
There’s going to be clear winners and losers, and the pecking order of the industry is going to change.
Ford's New All-Electric F-150 Lightning Is More Than it Seems|Alejandro de la Garza|May 20, 2021|Time
The team’s injury issues have thrust him forward in the pecking order, to the point where his success or failure at handling the playoff crucible seems likely to be a determinative in the Nuggets’ ultimate fortunes.
Michael Porter Jr.’s Breakout Is Real|Jared Dubin|May 5, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
There’s also a pecking order within each of these disciplines.
Gaia, the Scientist - Issue 99: Universality|Hope Jahren|April 7, 2021|Nautilus

Given the Bulls’ place in the pecking order, the 2021 pick is probably going to land in the late-lottery, or just outside it, this year.
NBA trade deadline: Nikola Vucevic, Victor Oladipo headed to new teams as Kyle Lowry stays put|Ben Golliver|March 25, 2021|Washington Post
And in order for them to realize their vision, they are willing to use any means.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive|Ayaan Hirsi Ali|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He could order the Justice Department to begin the necessary regulatory work.
Obama’s Pot Policy Is Refer Madness|James Poulos|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
So, in an unusual order (PDF) issued on New Years Day, District Judge Robert Hinkle clarified the issue.
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over|Jay Michaelson|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
So working with the militants in order to deliver aid “becomes a requirement,” she said.
ISIS Fight Has a Spy Shortage, Intel Chair Says|Kimberly Dozier|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Just how many fake nodes would be needed in order to pull off a successful Sybil attack against Tor is not known.
The Attack on the Hidden Internet|Marc Rogers|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On the thirteenth of the same month they bound to the stake, in order to burn alive, a man who had two religious in his house.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
Now this setting up of an orderly law-abiding self seems to me to imply that there are impulses which make for order.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Turn away from sin and order thy hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all offence.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
Dockier, a prominent leader of the Levelers, in the times of the English commonwealth, was shot by order of the government.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
Yet if there is a measure of untruth in such pretty flatteries, one needs to be superhuman in order to condemn them harshly.
Children's Ways|James Sully

British Dictionary definitions for pecking order

pecking order

noun

Also called: peck order a natural hierarchy in a group of gregarious birds, such as domestic fowl

any hierarchical order, as among people in a particular group

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for pecking order

pecking order

A hierarchy within a social group or community, in which those members at the top assume positions of leadership, authority, and power. The expression originated from a description of social behavior among chickens, which attack each other by pecking to establish dominance.

Other Idioms and Phrases with pecking order

pecking order

The hierarchy of authority in a group, as in On a space mission, the astronauts have a definite pecking order. This expression, invented in the 1920s by biologists who discovered that domestic poultry maintain such a hierarchy with one bird pecking another of lower status, was transferred to human behavior in the 1950s.

pecking order

Origin of pecking order

Words nearby pecking order

Words related to pecking order

How to use pecking order in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pecking order

Cultural definitions for pecking order

Other Idioms and Phrases with pecking order