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

Last season, the English teenager ended the campaign ahead of the Spaniard in the pecking order. — James McNicholas, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026

Regardless of party, the vice president and their spouse usually share an instinct for their place in the political pecking order. — Kate Andersen Brower, Vanity Fair, 12 Aug. 2026

Listing agent Kendra Bishop of The Bishop Real Estate Group doesn’t hesitate when asked where this home sits in the elite neighborhood’s pecking order. — David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 8 Aug. 2026

Araujo has apparently become surplus to requirements at the Spotify Camp Nou, having fallen behind Gerard Martin and Pau Cubarsi in the center-back pecking order, and Jules Kounde at right-back. — Tom Sanderson, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pecking order

• boarder
• border
• corder
• warder
• camcorder
• disorder
• recorder
• reorder
• suborder
• transborder

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

ˈpek-ˌ 

: 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