From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtrickle down phrasal verbif money trickles down, it moves slowly from the richest people to the poorest people in a society, or from the richest countries to the poorest countries → trickle→ See Verb tableFrom Longman Business Dictionarytrickle down phrasal verb [intransitive]ECONOMICS if something trickles down from one group to another, the people in the lower group start to feel the effects of something that has been done to the higher oneAs Mexico made the painful conversion to a market economy, less wealth trickled down from the bosses to the masses. → trickle→ See Verb tabletrickle-downˈtrickle-down adjective [only before a noun]ECONOMICS the trickle-down effect is the belief that additional wealth gained by the richest people in society will have a good economic effect on the lives of everyoneBush was criticized for his trickle-down economic policies.