top-down
/ˌtɒp ˈdaʊn/ (bre, ipa) · [tˈɑpdˈaʊn] /ˌtɑːp ˈdaʊn/ (ame, ipa) · [tˈɑpdˈaʊn] /ˈtäp-ˈdau̇n How to pronounce top-down (audio)/ (ame, mw)
top-down — adjective
1. planned or controlled by senior people, with lower-level workers or members main
planned or controlled by senior people, with lower-level workers or members mainly expected to follow the direction they are given.
The company used a top-down plan, so shop managers had no vote.
top-down plan set by senior leaders
Nadia disliked the school's top-down rules about uniforms and phone use.
After the merger, staff said the new top-down culture left little room for ideas.
The charity moved from a top-down model to local decision-making.
- centralized
stresses that control is kept in one main place or office
- hierarchical
emphasizes levels of authority rather than participation
- directive
focuses on giving orders from above
- bottom-up
built from ideas or decisions coming from lower levels
- participatory
allows the people affected to help decide
文法句型
top-down management
top-down decision-making
a top-down approach
用法筆記
Often modifies nouns such as management, control, reform, rules, and approach. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense is about who holds the power to decide, not about how ideas are organized.
2. starting from a broad plan or main idea, then moving step by step into smaller p
starting from a broad plan or main idea, then moving step by step into smaller parts and details.
Tomás teaches grammar with a top-down method that starts from whole texts.
top-down method begins with the whole
The engineer took a top-down view before drawing the wiring for each room.
Our design class uses a top-down map of the app before coding each screen.
Beatrix solved the puzzle with a top-down approach, not by testing tiny parts first.
- deductive
especially in reasoning or teaching, moving from a rule to specific cases
- hierarchical
can overlap in technical contexts, though it also refers to levels
- bottom-up
begins with small parts or observations and builds upward
- detail-first
plain-English contrast for working from parts before the whole
文法句型
a top-down approach
top-down design
top-down analysis
用法筆記
Usually modifies nouns such as method, approach, design, analysis, or view. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense describes how thinking or planning moves from the whole to the parts, not who has the authority.