hierarchically

hierarchy hi‧er‧ar‧chy [ˈhaɪrɑːki ǁ -ɑːr-] noun hierarchies _PLURALFORM

1. [countable, uncountable] HUMAN RESOURCES an organization or structure in which the staff are organized in levels and the people at one level have authority over those below them:

• Many companies have restructured their organizational hierarchies.

• the key men in the company hierarchy

— see also Maslow's hierarchy of needs

2. [countable] COMPUTING a structure in which files, information etc are organized in levels, each one being reached from the previous one:

• Each disk is divided into a hierarchy of directories.

— hierarchical adjective :

• Research shows that hierarchical organisations are slow to respond to change.

• a hierarchical structure of files

— hierarchically adverb :

• The police bureaucracy is organized hierarchically.

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hierarchical UK US /ˌhaɪəˈrɑːkɪkəl/ adjective

► arranged in a hierarchy: »

Seven hierarchical layers is more than enough for all but the largest corporations.

»

a hierarchical structure/system/relationship

hierarchically adverb

► »

Each department is hierarchically organized.