Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

bottom-up

adjective bot·tom-up \ ˈbä-təm-ˈəp \

Definition of bottom-up

: progressing upward from the lowest levels (as of a stratified organization or system)
  • bottom-up management

See bottom-up defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of bottom-up

1930

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year
NEW! Time Traveler

BOTTOM-UP Defined for English Language Learners

bottom-up

adjective

Definition of bottom-up for English Language Learners

  • : progressing upward from the lowest levels : controlled or directed from the lower levels

Learn More about bottom-up

  1. See words that rhyme with bottom-up

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up bottom-up? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

paste

play

to beat or defeat soundly

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. ideologue 'an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology'

  2. socialism 'a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government'

  3. uphold 'to let stand'

  4. due process 'a course of formal proceedings (as judicial proceedings)'

  5. asylum 'protection from arrest and extradition given especially to political refugees'

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

bottom-up

Test Your Vocabulary

Test Your Emoji Exceptionalism

  • test-your-emoji-exceptionalism-written-with-a-lot-of-emoji
  • What is this emoji intended to represent: 🤳
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Add Diction

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games