English Reference
Idiom idiom

filter down

Meaning

(by extension) Of information, or resources; to move slowly down to lower levels of an organisation, or population.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Examples
SIMPLE

“The new company rules will filter down to us soon.”

CONTEXTUAL

“Management announced the budget cuts, but it took weeks for the details to filter down to the employees.”

COMPLEX

“Although the government promised economic growth, the benefits were slow to filter down to the poorest citizens living in rural areas.”

Anchors to
Related idioms1entry
  1. 01

    filter up

    Of information, knowledge or practice; to move slowly up to other levels of an organisation, or population.

Last updated August 10, 2026