pronunciation:  haI @r ar ki
part of speech:   noun

definition 1:         a body of persons or entities graded according to rank or level of authority.
example:              The animal groups and individual animals were listed in a hierarchy, with the largest group at the top, the smaller subgroups under that, and the individual animals at the bottom.
example:              An admiral ranks at the top of the naval hierarchy.

definition 1:        a series that is graded or ranked.
example :             I listed my goals in a hierarchy from most important to least important. 

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Collocations:  Words often used in combination with the noun “hierarchy.”

VERB + hierarchy:    establish ~,  base ~  (e.g., a hierarchy based on the following characteristics),  create ~, construct ~, impose ~  (e.g., The conquerors imposed a new hierarchy upon the aristocracy)

PREPOSITION + hierarchy:    in ~ (e.g., ranked in a hierarchy, listed in a hierarchy), within~ (e.g., move up within the hierarchy)

ADJECTIVE + hierarchy:    organizational ~ , bureaucratic  ~, government ~,  ecclesiastical  ~, church  ~, Catholic ~ , taxonomic  ~,  strict ~,  rigid  ~