peck order

Variant of pecking order

pecking order definition

☆ pecking order

  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, etc.
  2. 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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