variants
also peck orders
as in rankings
the way in which people or things in a group or organization are placed in a series of levels with different importance or status
As an assistant manager, he was pretty low in the company's pecking order.
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pecking orders
Noun
-
Decentralize Decision-Making While Preserving Oversight The Pennsylvania event showed exactly what will happen to enterprises stuck in rigid hierarchies—one failure can ripple through the entire system because decision-making and recovery are slow.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025 -
In 1959, six years before I was born, Pakistan was ruled by a general who had seized power in a military coup and elevated himself to the rank of Field Marshall—the highest rank in the British army, whose structures and hierarchies were inherited by several post-colonial nations.—
Mohammed Hanif,
Time,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Scientists say these have contaminated the soil, filled our oceans, disrupted food chains and penetrated most people’s organs and bones.—
Jia H. Jung,
Mercury News,
31 Aug. 2025
-
Katie Wiseman Many fast food chains like McDonald's, Chick-fil-a, and Taco Bell serve breakfast in the morning, but only for a limited time.—
Katie Wiseman,
The Courier-Journal,
29 Aug. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Pecking orders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pecking%20orders. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share