TIER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tier mean? 

• TIER (noun)
  The noun TIER has 5 senses:

1. a relative position or degree of value in a graded group

2. any one of two or more competitors who tie one another

3. a worker who ties something

4. something that is used for tying

5. one of two or more layers one atop another

  Familiarity information: TIER used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TIER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A relative position or degree of value in a graded group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

grade; level; tier

Context example:

lumber of the highest grade

Hypernyms ("tier" is a kind of...):

rank (relative status)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tier"):

biosafety level (the level of safety from exposure to infectious agents; depends on work practices and safety equipment and facilities)

A level (the advanced level of a subject taken in school (usually two years after O level))

GCSE; General Certificate of Secondary Education; O level (the basic level of a subject taken in school)

college level (the level of education that college students are assumed to have attained)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any one of two or more competitors who tie one another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("tier" is a kind of...):

challenger; competition; competitor; contender; rival (the contestant you hope to defeat)

Derivation:

tie (finish a game with an equal number of points, goals, etc.)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A worker who ties something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

tier; tier up

Hypernyms ("tier" is a kind of...):

worker (a person who works at a specific occupation)

Derivation:

tie (fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Something that is used for tying

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

the sail is fastened to the yard with tiers

Hypernyms ("tier" is a kind of...):

rope (a strong line)

Derivation:

tie (fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord)

Sense 5

Meaning:

One of two or more layers one atop another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

a three-tier wedding cake

Hypernyms ("tier" is a kind of...):

bed; layer (single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance)

 Context examples 

Built directly in the eyes of the schooner, it was of the shape of a triangle, along the three sides of which stood the bunks, in double-tier, twelve of them.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

These measurements will provide information down to where the upper and lower atmospheres meet, giving scientists a full profile of the upper tier.

(Mars Mission Spacecraft Enters Orbit around Red Planet, NASA)

The light had suddenly gone out, the glimmering square of window had disappeared, and the third floor formed a dark band round the lofty building, with its tiers of shining casements.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In this two-tier system, severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ are included under the rubric of high grade intraepithelial neoplasia and may have the same clinical implications. (WHO, 2000) — 2003

(Esophageal Intraepithelial Neoplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

Using their standard four-tier scale to classify human hazards, NTP looked at the combined evidence from the individual components and concluded that TRAP is a presumed human hazard for hypertensive disorders during pregnancy, though they weren’t able to distinguish between the four types of disorders.

(Pregnancy hypertension risk increased by traffic-related air pollution, National Institutes of Health)