pecking order

peck·ing order   (pěk'ĭng) n.   A hierarchy among a group, as of people, classes, or nations: "The astronauts had developed a pecking order that was military in its rigidity" (Tom Wolfe). The social hierarchy in a flock of domestic fowl in which each bird pecks subordinate birds and submits to being pecked by dominant birds.

pecking order

A hierarchy within a social group or community, in which those members at the top assume positions of leadership, authority, and power. The expression originated from a description of social behavior among chickens, which attack each other by pecking to establish dominance.

Main Entry: peck·ing order
Pronunciation: 'pek-i[ng]-"
Variant: also peck order /'pek-"/
Function: noun
: the basicpattern 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 3, DOMINANCE a

pecking order

The hierarchy of authority in a group, as in On a space mission, the astronauts have a definite pecking order. This expression, invented in the 1920s by biologists who discovered that domestic poultry maintain such a hierarchy with one bird pecking another of lower status, was transferred to human behavior in the 1950s.

pecking order

a form of animal social structure in which a linear or nearly linear ranking exists, with each animal dominant over those below it and submissive to those above it in the hierarchy. Dominance hierarchies are best known in social mammals, such as baboons and wolves, and in birds, notably chickens (in which the term peck order or peck right is often applied)

Learn more about pecking order with a free trial on Britannica.com.