bottom-up

adjective

bot·​tom-up ˈbä-təm-ˈəp How to pronounce bottom-up (audio)
: progressing upward from the lowest levels (as of a stratified organization or system)
bottom-up management

Examples of bottom-up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Each of these acts is a thread in a quiet, bottom-up globalization tapestry. Vivian Toh, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025 Protection from surveillance comes in two forms: top-down legal and policy limits on data collection, and bottom-up technological protections in the hands of the targets of that surveillance. Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 16 June 2025 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. David Silverberg, JSTOR Daily, 13 June 2025 The unilateral imposition of tariffs is one example, but so is a more hierarchical method of crafting national security policy: presidential comments or social media posts, for example, have replaced the postwar bottom-up system. Michael Singh, Foreign Affairs, 11 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for bottom-up

Word History

First Known Use

1930, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bottom-up was in 1930

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Cite this Entry

“Bottom-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bottom-up. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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