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pecking order
noun
variants
or less commonly peck order
1
: the basic pattern of social organization within a flock of poultry in which each bird pecks another lower in the scale without fear of retaliation and submits to pecking by one of higher rank
broadly
: a dominance hierarchy in a group of social animals
2
: a social hierarchy
Examples of pecking order in a Sentence
As an assistant manager, he was pretty low in the company's pecking order.
the pecking order of Washington politics
Recent Examples on the Web
Stadium economics count a lot in the pecking order of NFL valuations because $13.68 billion, or 67%, of the league’s $20.47 billion in revenue was shared equally among the 32 teams in 2023.
—Michael Ozanian, CNBC, 5 Sep. 2024
Improvements in real income would be sacrificed in order to freeze the pecking order of the global income distribution.
—Branko Milanovic, Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 2020
Luciano committed five errors in nine games with the Giants at shortstop, his primary position, and has since been leapfrogged in the pecking order there by Tyler Fitzgerald.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2024
In addition to flying in his free time, Mitchell spent years working his way up the pecking order in the department’s aerial operations.
—Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pecking order
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pecking order.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1927, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Articles Related to pecking order
Dictionary Entries Near pecking order
Cite this Entry
“Pecking order.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pecking%20order. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.
Kids Definition
pecking order
noun
variants
also peck order
1
: a basic pattern of social organization within a flock of poultry in which each bird pecks another lower in the scale without being pecked in return and allows pecking by one of higher rank
2
: a social order with ranks or classes
Medical Definition
pecking order
noun
peck·ing order
ˈpek-iŋ-ˌ
variants
also peck order
: the basic pattern of social organization within a flock of poultry in which each bird pecks another lower in the scale without fear of retaliation and submits to pecking by one of higher rank compare cannibalism sense 3, dominance sense a
More from Merriam-Webster on pecking order
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for pecking order
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