Definition of "echelon" []

• A formation of troops in which each unit is positioned successively to the left or right of the rear unit to form an oblique or steplike line. (noun)
• A flight formation or arrangement of craft in this manner. (noun)
• A similar formation of groups, units, or individuals. (noun)
• A subdivision of a military or naval force: a command echelon. (noun)
• A level of responsibility or authority in a hierarchy; a rank: a job in the company's lower echelon. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Even if the upper echelon is motivated to try to keep the shop clean, a police union operates in the opposite direction: its job, of course, is to defend its members, no matter how discreditable their conduct, and police associations have done a spectacular job of it."
• "The grand parties of the twenties only roared for a certain echelon of society, and there was a whole segment that was virtually untouched by the depressionwhich in itself was experienced in different ways on either side of the Atlantic."
• "I remained there, placing the boats which I had brought up with me, containing Bashi-Bazouks under command of Yahia Bey, who is an excellent officer, in echelon across the stream, in which position they could command a very considerable length of the ford, which extends for about a mile, and support one another in case of an attempt at a forced passage."