pecking orders

variants also peck orders
plural of pecking order
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.

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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.
Recent Examples of pecking orders 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pecking orders
Noun
  • Texas dominated many national rankings in the report as well, with the ZIP code encompassing the Dallas suburb of Crandall ranking second on the list and a more urban Dallas ZIP code ranking 10th.
    Faith Bugenhagen, Austin American Statesman, 28 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • While mapping these structural hierarchies is a foundational data modeling challenge, the piece that most organizations completely underestimate is the dynamic signal layer.
    Filip Popovic, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Estrangement often happens when these two ideas of family collide and cannot be reconciled – when one member insists that biological or origin ties and hierarchies reinforce the family unit, and another insists that behavior does.
    Rin Reczek, The Conversation, 17 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Similar trends are playing out at fast food chains and sit-down restaurants.
    Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
  • On Friday, July 17, Taylor Farms — which supplies produce for pre-packaged salads in grocery stores and ingredients for fast food chains — announced a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce sourced to the region by the FDA.
    Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 21 July 2026

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“Pecking orders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pecking%20orders. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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