1.NounGovernment by bureaus or their administrators or officers.
2.NounA system of administration based upon organisation into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc., designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner.
"At that time the administration replaced the system of patronage in the civil service with a bureaucracy."
3.NounThe body of officers and administrators, especially of a government.
"The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy. "
4.NounExcessive red tape and routine in any administration, body or behaviour.
"The head of the civil service promised to clamp down on bureaucracy."