Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Origin: Perhaps from the sound

trickle

1 verb
     
trick‧le1 [intransitive always + adverb/preposition]
1 if liquid trickles somewhere, it flows slowly in drops or in a thin stream
trickle down/into/out
The tears trickled down her cheeks.
2 if people, vehicles, goods etc trickle somewhere, they move there slowly in small groups or amounts
trickle in/into/away
The first few fans started to trickle into the stadium.

trickle down

phrasal verb
if 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 up

phrasal verb
if money trickles up, it moves slowly from the poorest people to the richest people in a society, or from the poorest countries to the richest countries
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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