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.

Origin: calque of Ger hackordnung

See pecking order in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. 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).
  2. The social hierarchy in a flock of domestic fowl in which each bird pecks subordinate birds and submits to being pecked by dominant birds.

Learn more about pecking order

link/cite print suggestion box