Pecking

Pecking
Peck Peck, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pecked}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Pecking}.] [See {Pick}, v.] 1. To strike with the beak; to thrust the beak into; as, a bird pecks a tree. [1913 Webster]

2. Hence: To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument; especially, to strike, pick, etc., with repeated quick movements. [1913 Webster]

3. To seize and pick up with the beak, or as with the beak; to bite; to eat; -- often with up. --Addison. [1913 Webster]

This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

4. To make, by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument; as, to peck a hole in a tree. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Pecking — Le nom vient d Alsace, où il s écrivait autrefois Bicking. La finale ing fait penser à un nom de localité (toponyme formé à partir d un nom de personne). On a le choix notamment entre Bicking, dans le Brandebourg, et Beckingen, en Sarre …   Noms de famille

  • 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 — ➔ order1 * * * pecking order UK US noun [C, usually singular] INFORMAL HR ► the level of importance of people in a social group, at work, etc: further/lower down the pecking order »Employees are lower down the pecking order in private equity than …   Financial and business terms

  • pecking order — pecking orders N COUNT: usu sing The pecking 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... They both came from families… …   English dictionary

  • pecking order — pecking .order n [singular] 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 …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • pecking order — The pecking order is the order of importance or rank …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • 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

  • pecking order — [n] hierarchy chain of command*, corporate ladder, due order, echelons, grouping, order, placing, position, ranking, scale; concept 727 …   New thesaurus

  • pecking order — ► NOUN ▪ a hierarchy of status among members of a group, originally as observed among hens …   English terms dictionary

  • Pecking Order Theory — In the theory of firm s capital structure and financing decisions, the Pecking Order Theory or Pecking Order Model was developed by Stewart C. Myers in 1984. It states that companies prioritize their sources of financing (from internal financing… …   Wikipedia

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