top-down
adjective
1
: controlled, directed, or instituted from the top level
a top-down corporate structure
2
: proceeding by breaking large general aspects (as of a problem) into smaller more detailed constituents : working from the general to the specific
top-down programming
top-down design
Examples of top-down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
First framing the tension between the BBC’s traditional top-down reporting model and the democratic, bottom-up potential of crowdsourced news, Jones speaks to the BBC’s embrace of citizen media by citing several key factors.
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David Silverberg, JSTOR Daily, 13 June 2025
But in the fleet, pacey manner of the editing, toggling between private and public moments with highlight-reel efficiency, the film is a stirring glimpse of top-down kindness as a winning leadership style.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025
While most multiplayer shooters are first- or third-person games, Blindspot goes the top-down route.
—Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 8 June 2025
This is a top-down formation process rather than the bottom-up of core accretion, but there is disagreement within the astronomical community over whether such low-mass stars can even experience a disk instability.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 June 2025
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David Silverberg, JSTOR Daily, 13 June 2025
But in the fleet, pacey manner of the editing, toggling between private and public moments with highlight-reel efficiency, the film is a stirring glimpse of top-down kindness as a winning leadership style.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025
While most multiplayer shooters are first- or third-person games, Blindspot goes the top-down route.
—Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 8 June 2025
This is a top-down formation process rather than the bottom-up of core accretion, but there is disagreement within the astronomical community over whether such low-mass stars can even experience a disk instability.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for top-down
Cite this Entry
“Top-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/top-down. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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