pecking order

American  

Sometimes peck order

noun

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

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

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pecking order British  

noun

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

2. any hierarchical order, as among people in a particular group

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pecking order Cultural  

1. 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.

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pecking order Idioms  

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of pecking order

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pecking order

Grace Scrivens was touted as a future England batter for a few years but seems to have fallen down the pecking order, while Charis Pavely and Ella McCaughan are the other potential in-form youngsters.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

In a time of distress, like a recession, “there’s a pecking order to who gets in the lifeboat first,” Ed Al-Hussainy, portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, told Barron’s late last year.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

Between artificial intelligence, the Iran War, and the future of Taiwan, there’s a lot for the United States and China to hash out—not least of which being the pecking order.

From Slate ● May 15, 2026

Their dearth of head-to-head battles is a surprise considering the sport’s pecking order is currently Scheffler and McIlroy…and then everyone else.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

Without ever quite meaning to, I’d entered the troop’s pecking order.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer

Related Words

• food chain
• hierarchy
• power structure
• social structure