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

Anyone with a functioning pair of corneas can see that the San Francisco 49ers are currently looking up at the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West pecking order. —Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2026

The cars are new, the engines are new, the rules are new, and the pecking order that Lando Norris mastered last season may already be obsolete. —The Athletic, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026

Edmonds and Punch are the go-to options on offense, and having that clear pecking order is one reason TCU played its way off the bubble. —Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Mar. 2026

English was third in the pecking order of languages. —Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 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