trickle down


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trickle down

1. Of a liquid, to flow or seep downward in drops or a thin stream. As the ice cream melted, it began tricking down Billy's arm. After dropping the jug, he just watched helplessly as all the wine trickled down the steps of the porch.
2. To distribute, pass, or diffuse to people lower on a hierarchical structure. The famous economical model posits that, should the wealthy be allowed to make as much money as possible, it will trickle down to everyone else in society. You're deluding yourself if you think power within the company is going to trickle down to you just because you're regional manager now.
See also: down, trickle
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

trickle down

 (to someone or something)
1. Lit. [for a liquid] to seep or dribble downward to reach someone or something. The water trickled down the wall to the floor. It trickled down very slowly.
2. Fig. [for something] to be distributed to someone or something in little bits at a time. The results of the improved economy trickled down to people at lower-income levels. Information about what happened finally trickled down to me.
See also: down, trickle
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

trickle down

v.
To diffuse downward through some hierarchical structure: The sociology professor believed that money rarely trickles down from the owners of capital to the workers who toil in the factories.
See also: down, trickle
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
See also:
References in periodicals archive ?
For the money to trickle down to businesses and households banks have to clean up their balance sheets and governments have to act to lower their risk aversion.
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It is through better employment that economic growth can really trickle down to the masses.
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Trickle down economics is not so much a legislative policy and more a law of nature.
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Political and economic leaders justify their efforts to stimulate the economy by placing as many collective resources as possible at the disposal of business, by contending that this is the best way to promote social goals: The more the economy grows, they say, the more fruits it produces, and the more fruits it produces, the more they trickle down to all social strata.
The fruits of growth trickled up more than down
This is a "trickle-down" tax cut - based on the same "trickle down" idea that Thatcher clung to in the 80s - shovel cash to the rich, and they might spend it, benefitting everyone.
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But in a global economy, investments don't trickle down; they trickle out to wherever on the planet the rich can get the highest return.
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A prolonged downturn in the housing market could also have a trickle down effect on the overall direction of the industrial market.
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According to a source based in the South, producers of primary PET have announced price increases, but they have yet to trickle down to the secondary market.
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Most changes trickle down from state law, so he advises activists to start by checking if and how their state constitution defines a family, and appealing to their state legislators.
Gay families, keep out! The recent case of a straight couple denied an occupancy permit in Missouri has once again shone a light on city ordinances that forbid unmarried couples with children to live together. Gay families are particularly at risk
I know the theory on paper is trickle down. That rich people will spend their money, which eventually will trickle down to the poor.
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So, finally trickle down became clear-as the rest of us were getting squeezed mercilessly at the gas pump, profits were trickling down into the coffers of the oil companies.
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Usually automotive high-tech innovations are introduced on large luxury models and trickle down to lesser vehicles.
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Bush competed in the Republican primaries against Ronald Reagan, Bush rarely debated the merits of Reagan's "Trickle Down" theory of economic wealth.
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"The trend is a combination of the trickle down effect from the pros and colleges in addition to the hiring of strength and conditioning coaches on the scholastic level," Takkinen says.
Getting to the core: implementing a functional training program
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