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Webster's New World College Dictionary » peck order
peck order
Variant of pecking order
pecking order
definition
☆ pecking order
- 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, etc.
- social organization in which status is determined by aggressive awareness of rank, income, etc.
Etymology: calque of Ger hackordnung
Also peck order
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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