pecking orderˈpecking ˌorder noun [singular] 
Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the pecking order.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- He seems to have dropped down the Hollywood pecking order.
- Beneath that principled veneer students were hammering out the usual adolescent pecking order.
- But normally the pecking order works out by itself.
- Even many six-year-olds already know that there is a reader pecking order in their classrooms.
- Horses with the highest self-esteem are likely to be found at the top of their pecking order.
- Males compete with one another for places in a pecking order.
- Occasionally a foal thinks we are pretty low in the pecking order and decides to kick us.
- Patients are at the bottom of the pecking order and have very little say in the running of services.
WORD SETS
abdicate, verbaffirmative action, nounage discrimination, nounageism, nounalienation, nounalmshouse, nounbackground, nounbeatnik, nounbeggar, nounbetterment, nounbirthrate, nounbohemian, adjectivebondage, nouncarer, nouncaretaker, nouncase work, nouncaste, nouncity planning, nouncommoner, nounconditioning, nounconsumer society, nounculture, noundisease, noundosser, noundoss house, noundown-and-out, noundownwardly mobile, adjectiveeuthanasia, nounformative, adjectivegenteel, adjectivegentlefolk, noungentleman, noungentlewoman, noungentry, noungeriatric, adjectivegerontology, noungrey, adjectivehermit, nounhierarchy, nounhippie, nounHonourable, adjectiveindependence, nounindustrialism, nouninequality, nouninfrastructure, nouninner city, nouninstitution, nouninstitutionalize, verbintegrate, verbliteracy, nounlower class, nounlow life, nounmatrix, nounmeritocracy, nounmobile, adjectivemores, nounmortality, nounNew Age traveller, nounorder, nounoutreach, nounpatriarchy, nounpecking order, nounpeer pressure, nounpetty bourgeois, adjectiveplebeian, nounpolitics, nounprogress, nounrank, nounreaction, nounrear, verbreceive, verbredneck, nounrevolution, nounsecularism, nounservice, nounsexual, adjectivesister, nounslave, nounslavery, nounsnowbird, nounsocial, adjectivesocial, nounsocialization, nounsocial science, nounsocial studies, nounsocial work, nounsocial worker, nounsociety, nounsocio-, prefixsocioeconomic, adjectivesoup kitchen, nounstratified, adjectivestratum, nounstreet people, nounsubgroup, nounsuburbanite, nounsuburbia, nounsupport group, nountownie, nountown meeting, nountown planning, nountownspeople, nountramp, noununattached, adjectiveuncle, noununconventional, adjectiveunderclass, nounupwardly mobile, adjectivewhite-collar, adjectiveworking class, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the pecking order.
a social system within a group of people or animals in which each member knows who has a higher or lower rank than themselves: Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the pecking order. Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the pecking order.