Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.
Pecking order — or just peck order is a hierarchical system of social organization in animals. It was first described from the behaviour of poultry by Thorleif Schjelderup Ebbe in 1921 under the German terms Hackordnung or Hackliste and introduced into English… … Wikipedia
pecking order — ➔ order1 * * * pecking order UK US noun [C, usually singular] INFORMAL HR ► the level of importance of people in a social group, at work, etc: further/lower down the pecking order »Employees are lower down the pecking order in private equity than … Financial and business terms
pecking order — pecking orders N COUNT: usu sing The pecking order of a group is the way that the positions people have are arranged according to their status or power within the group. He knew his place in the pecking order... They both came from families… … English dictionary
pecking order — The pecking order is the order of importance or rank … The small dictionary of idiomes
pecking order — pecking .order n [singular] a social system within a group of people or animals in which each member knows who has a higher or lower rank than themselves ▪ Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the pecking order … Dictionary of contemporary English
pecking order — ☆ pecking order n. [calque of Ger hackordnung] 1. a hierarchy among birds, as a flock of hens, based on aggressive pecking in which the most dominant bird pecks all others, the second most dominant bird pecks all others except the most dominant,… … English World dictionary
pecking order — [n] hierarchy chain of command*, corporate ladder, due order, echelons, grouping, order, placing, position, ranking, scale; concept 727 … New thesaurus
pecking order — ► NOUN ▪ a hierarchy of status among members of a group, originally as observed among hens … English terms dictionary
Pecking Order — Infobox Game title = Pecking Order image link = image caption = designer =Richard Garfield illustrator = publisher = Winning Moves players = 2 ages = 8 and up setup time = 5 minutes playing time = 5 15 minutes random chance = Low skills =… … Wikipedia
pecking order — UK [ˈpekɪŋ ˌɔː(r)də(r)] / US [ˈpekɪŋ ˌɔrdər] noun [countable] Word forms pecking order : singular pecking order plural pecking orders the order of power or importance within a group of people or animals … English dictionary
pecking order — /ˈpɛkɪŋ ɔdə / (say peking awduh) noun 1. the natural hierarchy observable in a flock of poultry or in any gregarious species of birds. 2. any order of precedence: *What clearly emerges in many surfing sessions is a social hierarchy, or a pecking… …
