Thepecking 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.
pecking order in British English
noun
1. Also called: peck order
a natural hierarchy in a group of gregarious birds, such as domestic fowl
2.
any hierarchical order, as among people in a particular group
pecking order in American English
US
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.
Also peck order
Word origin
calque of Ger hackordnung
Examples of 'pecking order' in a sentence
pecking order
`I suspect it's the bottom of the pecking order, Caron dear.
Anita Anderson SOMEBODY (2002)
Kyle didn't have to understand the words to see that there was a clear pecking order among the men.