TOP-DOWN Definition & Meaning

top-down

[ top-doun ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

relating to, originating with, or directed by those of highest rank:
a centralized, top-down organization with a chain of command reporting up from every corner of the earth.
organized or proceeding from the larger, more general structure to smaller, more detailed units, as in processing information:
Top-down investing looks at the big picture, or how the overall economy drives the markets, and then focuses on individual stocks.
Computers. noting or relating to a methodology used in the design and coding of programs that takes a high-level description of a problem and successively breaks it into smaller and simpler subunits.

top-down

adjective

controlled, directed, or organized from the top

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of top-down¹

First recorded in 1940–45; 1970–75 top-down fordef 3; adjective use of the adverb phrase “from the top down ”

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

And without a top-down overhaul, Probation Department critics fear nothing will change.

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McDonnell on Wednesday repeated his promise to announce a departmental realignment after the completion of a study by Rand Corp., a global policy think tank brought in last year to conduct a top-down review.

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Now, however, the moment has an added heaviness because the top-down attacks are targeting working people of all walks of life.

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That top-down pressure, coupled with ongoing cuts to funding streams from the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Institute of Museum and Library Services, leaves the Smithsonian and other museums vulnerable, Walker added.

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But, she said, the top-down attacks have inspired the organization to temporarily take their project in a new direction: building an emergency shelter.

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top dollar top drawer

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