peck order

peck order
noun also pecking order
Etymology: translation of German hackordnung
1. : the basic pattern of social organization within a flock of poultry in which each bird is permitted to peck another lower in the scale without fear of retaliation and is expected to submit to pecking by one of higher rank and in which separate peck orders usually exist for each sex with all the males normally dominating all the females — compare hook order
2. : a hierarchy of social dominance, prestige, or authority

got to the top of the pecking order in their own town — Margaret Mead

the peck order in women's clubs, faculty groups, families, or churches — W.C.Allee

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pecking order or peck order noun
1. A social order among poultry (or other birds) according to which any bird may peck a less important bird but must submit to being pecked by a more important one
2. Order of prestige or power in a human social group
3. Order of importance or prevalence
• • •
Main Entry: ↑peck

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peck order,
= pecking order. (Cf. ↑pecking order)

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • peck order — noun see pecking order …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • peck-order — …   Useful english dictionary

  • peck — 1. v. & n. v.tr. 1 strike or bite (something) with a beak. 2 kiss (esp. a person s cheek) hastily or perfunctorily. 3 a make (a hole) by pecking. b (foll. by out, off) remove or pluck out by pecking. 4 colloq. (also absol.) eat (food) listlessly; …   Useful english dictionary

  • peck|ing order — «PEHK ihng», 1. an order of dominance, originally noted among chickens, prescribing which bird can peck another and which bird or birds can, in turn, peck it. The pecking order never changes once it is established at an early age among a flock. 2 …   Useful english dictionary

  • Peck, Gregory — ▪ 2004       American actor (b. April 5, 1916, La Jolla, Calif. d. June 12, 2003, Los Angeles, Calif.), was most noted for portraying morally decent, dignified, and quietly strong characters. He was nominated for five Academy Awards and won one,… …   Universalium

  • peck — {{11}}peck (n.) late 13c., dry measure of one quarter bushel, of unknown origin; perhaps connected with O.Fr. pek, picot (13c.), also of unknown origin. Chiefly of oats for horses; original sense may be allowance rather than a fixed measure, thus …   Etymology dictionary

  • pecking order — peck·ing order pek iŋ . also peck order pek . n the basic pattern 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… …   Medical dictionary

  • 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 — /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… …  

  • 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

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