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 Both men seem to have a rock-solid position on the WWE pecking order. Brian Mazique, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024 With the huge distributor-producer groups only getting bigger – Banijay is snaffling up libraries, All3Media has a rich new owner – and the Hollywood studios are back in the TV sales business, where does Sphere Abacus sit in the pecking order? Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2024 While the top teams earn huge revenues from sponsorship, TV deals, and commercial deals, further down the pecking order, player trading is the main way clubs can make a profit. Steve Price, Forbes, 6 Oct. 2024 Raygun, meanwhile, upended this pecking order, and accomplished what all of those sports marketers could never do. Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 4 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

Time Traveler
The first known use of pecking order was in 1927

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 Nov. 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 How to pronounce pecking order (audio)
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

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