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
Navarro’s place in the pecking order came under further scrutiny when Elon Musk, the billionaire adviser to the president, publicly attacked him on social media.
—
Brett Samuels, The Hill, 19 Apr. 2025
Denver would sink to the bottom of the pecking order due to its 0-4 record against Minnesota this season.
—Matt Schubert, Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2025
After that, the quarterback pecking order has been rather mixed.
—Gordon G. Chang, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
Yildiz hadn’t scored for Juve since the derby win against Torino on January 11, a period of well over two months, and had fallen down the pecking order under Motta towards the end.
—Emmet Gates, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pecking order
Brett Samuels, The Hill, 19 Apr. 2025
Denver would sink to the bottom of the pecking order due to its 0-4 record against Minnesota this season.
—Matt Schubert, Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2025
After that, the quarterback pecking order has been rather mixed.
—Gordon G. Chang, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
Yildiz hadn’t scored for Juve since the derby win against Torino on January 11, a period of well over two months, and had fallen down the pecking order under Motta towards the end.
—Emmet Gates, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pecking order
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pecking order
Noun
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These tools are arranged in a hierarchy, with a powerful LLM tool acting as the project manager, delegating tasks to whatever will get the job done.—
Bernard Marr,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025
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Central among them are questions about the role of women, the exercise of power in the church hierarchy and the move to a more missionary church that gets out of its comfort zone.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
11 May 2025
Noun
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The easy answer is most of the time, but the accurate answer is that out of the 24 roles in this ranking, Pantoliano is evil in 20, neutral in one, and good in three.—
Carrie Wittmer,
Vulture,
19 May 2025
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It's been well over a decade since Aaliyah last scored a hit on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay tally, which is considered the most competitive radio ranking in those genres.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pecking order.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pecking%20order. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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