Pecking-order
noun
1.
Animal Behavior. a dominance hierarchy, seen especially in domestic poultry, that is maintained by one bird pecking another of lower status.
2.
a sequence or hierarchy of authority in an organization or social group.
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
A hierarchy within a social group or community, in which those members at the top assume positions of leadership, authority, and power. The expression originated from a description of social behavior among chickens, which attack each other by pecking to establish dominance.
The hierarchy of authority in a group, as in On a space mission, the astronauts have a definite pecking order. This expression, invented in the 1920s by biologists who discovered that domestic poultry maintain such a hierarchy with one bird pecking another of lower status, was transferred to human behavior in the 1950s.
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[pek-snif-ee-uh n] /pɛkˈsnɪf i ən/ adjective, (often lowercase) 1. hypocritically and unctuously affecting benevolence or high moral principles. /pɛkˈsnɪfɪən/ adjective 1. affecting benevolence or high moral principles adj. 1851, after Mr. Pecksniff, unctuous hypocrite in Dickens’ “Martin Chuzzlewit” (1844).
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