1
a
: a row, rank, or layer of articles
especially
: one of two or more rows, levels, or ranks arranged one above another
b
: a group of political or geographic divisions that form a row across the map
the southern tier of states
Examples of tier in a Sentence
Noun (1)
the bottom tier of entrants
Recent Examples on the Web
Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
Picture the 28-year-old with a master’s degree and $80,000 in student loans, sharing a two-bedroom apartment in a second-tier city because the down payment on the starter home her parents bought at 26 would now require a decade of saving.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 3 May 2026
Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 21 Mar. 2026
Well, let’s try to tier the best teams by contender status, among this week’s 10 thoughts.
—Brendan Marks, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tier
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Noun
Along one wall ran hundreds of gray, two-tier lockers.
—Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
Picture the 28-year-old with a master’s degree and $80,000 in student loans, sharing a two-bedroom apartment in a second-tier city because the down payment on the starter home her parents bought at 26 would now require a decade of saving.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 3 May 2026
Verb
Since 2018 the Navy and shipbuilders have awarded supplier development funding (SDF) primarily to tier two and tier three suppliers, for improving the health of the submarine supplier base.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 21 Mar. 2026
Well, let’s try to tier the best teams by contender status, among this week’s 10 thoughts.
—Brendan Marks, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tier
Cite this Entry
“Tier.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tier. Accessed 6 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tier
1 of 3 noun
: a row, rank, or layer usually arranged in a series one above the other
tiered
adjective
ˈti(ə)rd
tier
2 of 3 verb1
: to place or arrange in tiers
2
: to rise in tiers
tier
3 of 3 noun
ti·er
variants
or tyer
ˈtī(-ə)r
: a person or thing that ties
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