Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A toy having one end tapered to a point, allowing it to be spun, as by suddenly pulling a string wound around it.
  • noun The uppermost part, point, surface, or end.
  • noun The part farthest from a given reference point.
  • noun The crown of the head.
  • noun The part of a plant, such as a rutabaga, that is above the ground.
  • noun Something, such as a lid or cap, that covers or forms an uppermost part.
  • noun A garment worn on the upper half of the body.
  • noun Nautical A platform enclosing the head of each mast of a sailing ship, to which the topmast rigging is attached.
  • noun The highest degree, pitch, or point; the peak, acme, or zenith.
  • noun The highest position or rank.
  • noun A person in this position.
  • noun Games The highest card or cards in a suit or hand.
  • noun The best part.
  • noun The earliest part or beginning.
  • noun Baseball The first half of an inning.
  • noun A stroke that lands above the center of a ball, as in golf or tennis, giving it a forward spin.
  • noun A forward spin on a ball resulting from such a stroke.
  • noun Slang One who penetrates the other person or is the dominant partner in a sexual encounter or relationship.
  • adjective Situated at the top.
  • adjective Of the highest degree, quality, rank, or amount.
  • adjective In a position of preeminence.
  • intransitive verb To form, furnish with, or serve as a top.
  • intransitive verb To reach or go over the top of.
  • intransitive verb To exceed or surpass.
  • intransitive verb To be at the head of.
  • intransitive verb To remove the top or uppermost part from; crop.
  • intransitive verb To strike the upper part of (a ball), giving it forward spin.
  • intransitive verb To make (a stroke) in this way.
  • intransitive verb To make a finish, an end, or a conclusion.
  • idiom (off the top of (one's) head) In an impromptu way.
  • idiom (on top) At the highest point or peak.
  • idiom (on top) In a dominant, controlling, or successful position.
  • idiom (on top of) In control of.
  • idiom (on top of) Fully informed about.
  • idiom (on top of) In addition to; besides.
  • idiom (on top of) Following closely on; coming immediately after.
  • idiom (on top of the world) In a position of great happiness or success.
  • idiom (over the top) Surpassing a goal or quota.
  • idiom (over the top) Excessively expressive or dramatic.
  • idiom (over the top) Over the breastwork, as an attack in trench warfare.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English top ("top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything"), from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), from Proto-Indo-European *dumb- (“tail, rod, staff, penis”). Cognate with Scots tap ("top"), North Frisian top, tap, tup ("top"), Saterland Frisian Top ("top"), West Frisian top ("top"), Dutch top ("top, summit, peak"), Low German Topp ("top"), German Zopf ("braid, pigtail, plait, top"), German Top ("top, summit, peak"), Swedish topp ("top, peak, summit, tip"), Icelandic toppur ("top"). Related also to Old High German zumpfo ("penis").

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Examples

  • I'm yet to discover a way to convert a top to a body outfit/part, which would address the above problem partially, despite a few token efforts at file renaming (the .bmps exported are preceded with top~ or body~) and hex editing (the .package file refers to the file names it expects to find for the .bmps).

    Galactic North patternjuggler 2004

  • I'm yet to discover a way to convert a top to a body outfit/part, which would address the above problem partially, despite a few token efforts at file renaming (the .bmps exported are preceded with top~ or body~) and hex editing (the .package file refers to the file names it expects to find for the .bmps).

    Archive 2004-09-28 patternjuggler 2004

  • If you look at a plant, you find it dark near the ground, growing lighter near the top with its green leaves, and then the blossom; the glory is at the _top_.

    Make Your Own Hats Gene Allen Martin

  • Among stones and rocks the recognized sign is one stone set on top of another (_top line_) and in places where there is nothing but grass the custom is to twist a tussock into a knot (_third line_).

    Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts Girl Scouts of the United States of America 1918

  • View It » just who are these self appointed "top conservatives"? probably a balance to the "self-appointed _top progressives"

    Propeller Most Popular Stories Tasine 2010

  • View It » just who are these self appointed "top conservatives"? probably a balance to the "self-appointed _top progressives"

    Propeller Most Popular Stories Tasine 2010

  • View It » just who are these self appointed "top conservatives"? probably a balance to the "self-appointed _top progressives"

    Propeller Most Popular Stories Tasine 2010

  • View It » just who are these self appointed "top conservatives"? probably a balance to the "self-appointed _top progressives"

    Propeller Most Popular Stories Tasine 2010

  • View It » just who are these self appointed "top conservatives"? probably a balance to the "self-appointed _top progressives"

    Propeller Most Popular Stories Tasine 2010

  • Let's look at two top gaming machines and see how they compare, and which we consider the ¨all time top¨ gaming machine.

    SPAWNPOINT.COM - Gaming News Feed 2008

  • There’s something truly wonderful about referring to a procedure as specific as a bilateral mastectomy with a term as blandly ominous as top surgery.

    The best $6,250 I ever spent: top surgery Daniel Ortberg 2018

  • Ultimately, Watson declined the testosterone prescription and opted to get top surgery, a procedure to remove his breasts (yes, the same ones Sabrina’s jocks were trying to expose on Susie), to achieve a look more consistent with his sense of self.

    Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina's Lachlan Watson Talks Life Inside 'The Gender Void' MTV 2018

  • In Arco, she was the only climber, of any age, to top out (i.e., reach the top) on the four bouldering problems—three of them on the first try.

    The Most Talented Climber in the World? Condé Nast 2016

Comments

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  • Noun- idiomatic/slang: used in the gay community to describe the penetrative or insertive partner as opposed to the penetrated or 'passive' bottom.

    August 2, 2009

  • In rock climbing, to successfully reach the top of a route on a wall.

    June 9, 2022