tier

noun

1. One who ties (knots, etc.).
2. Something that ties.
3. (archaic)A child's apron.
4. A row or range, especially one at a higher or lower level than another.
5. A rank or grade; a stratum.

   “Stoke City were playing in the second tier of English football before being promoted to the Premier League.”

   “Turians have 27 citizenship tiers, beginning with civilians (client races and children). The initial period of military service is the second tier.”

   “At various points during the (too frequent, mostly boring, school play-tier) dialogue.”

6. (Australia)A (typically forested) range of hills or mountains, especially in South Australia or Tasmania; a mountain.

   “This party headed towards the tiers and lakes, scouring the country while veering towards Bothwell.”

   “On she drove, leaving the highway, up a skinny country road, past the snow-capped tier and into the forest on its foothills.”

7. A horizontal row of panels within a comic strip.

verb

1. (transitive)To arrange in layers.
2. (transitive)To cascade in an overlapping sequence.
3. (transitive)To move (data) from one storage medium to another as an optimization, based on how frequently it is accessed.