variants
also peck order
as in hierarchy
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.
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Recent Examples of pecking order
Investors have paid little mind to Tesla’s declining position in the global EV pecking order and have instead bought into Musk’s emphasis on artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles.
—
Bloomberg Wire, Dallas Morning News, 2 Jan. 2026
Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury last spring moved Brown to the top of the team’s pecking order, and Boston has overachieved thus far on his watch, sitting third in the Eastern Conference at 18-11.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
From playoff pecking orders to division title tiebreakers to how the NFC South can be won (or lost) in only two games instead of four, Fowler and Kaye break it all down for the Carolina faithful.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 10 Dec. 2025
Dawson has won three in a row coming to Nevada, though ‘El Loco’ is on a high after a first-round TKO of Drew Dober back in March, which forced his place up the pecking order.
—Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pecking order
Bloomberg Wire, Dallas Morning News, 2 Jan. 2026
Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury last spring moved Brown to the top of the team’s pecking order, and Boston has overachieved thus far on his watch, sitting third in the Eastern Conference at 18-11.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
From playoff pecking orders to division title tiebreakers to how the NFC South can be won (or lost) in only two games instead of four, Fowler and Kaye break it all down for the Carolina faithful.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 10 Dec. 2025
Dawson has won three in a row coming to Nevada, though ‘El Loco’ is on a high after a first-round TKO of Drew Dober back in March, which forced his place up the pecking order.
—Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pecking order
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pecking order
Noun
-
In the internal logic of Venezuela’s ruling system, power functions less like that of a modern institutional state and more like a feudal hierarchy, where control of armed force determines political survival.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
8 Jan. 2026
-
But some people involved will be new, including those at the top of the legislative hierarchy.—
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger,
Des Moines Register,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
To determine the ranking, Skyscanner looked at destinations with the biggest year-over-year increases in searches to which shows where exactly travelers are most interested in heading to in the upcoming year.—
Celia Fernandez,
CNBC,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Manning had the last name, the ranking, and was playing for a storied program.—
Jon Conahan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pecking order.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pecking%20order. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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