top

Etymology

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”), Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Icelandic toppur (“top”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tɒp/, [tʰɒp]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /tɑp/, [tʰɑp]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒp

Noun

top (plural tops)

1. The highest or uppermost part of something.

   His kite got caught at the top of the tree.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175, page 035:

     But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, […].

   1. (irrespective of present orientation) the part of something that is usually the top.
      • 2017 October 1 (last accessed), Dewayne Carel, “Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎:

        To mount the V8, I simply placed it on its top, and then prepped the mobo/CPU for installation (applied thermal compound).

      We flipped the machine onto its top.

   2. The uppermost part of a page, picture, viewing screen, etc.

      Further weather information can be found at the top of your television screen.  Headings appear at the tops of pages.

   3. A lid, cap or cover of a container.

      Put a top on the toothpaste tube or it will go bad.

   4. A garment worn to cover the torso.

      I bought this top as it matches my jeans.

   5. (nautical) A framework at the top of a ship's mast to which rigging is attached.
   6. (baseball) The first half of an inning, during which the home team fields and the visiting team bats.
   7. (archaic) The crown of the head, or the hair upon it; the head.
      • Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)

        from top to toe

      • William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

        All the stored vengeance of Heaven fall / On her ungrateful top!

2. A child’s spinning toy; a spinning top.

   The boy was amazed at how long the top would spin.

3. (heading) Someone who is eminent.
   1. (archaic) The chief person; the most prominent one.
      • John Milton (1608-1674)

        to be the top of zealots

   2. The highest rank; the most honourable position; the utmost attainable place.

      to be at the top of one's class, or at the top of the school

      • William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

        And wears upon his baby brow the round / And top of sovereignty.

      • 2011 September 29, Tom Rostance, “Stoke 2-1 Besiktas”, in BBC Sport:

        After drawing their first game in Kiev the Potters are now top of Europa League Group E ahead of back-to-back games with Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

4. (BDSM) A dominant partner in a BDSM relationship or roleplay.
5. (LGBT, slang) A man penetrating or with a preference for penetrating during homosexual intercourse.

   I prefer being a top, and my boyfriend prefers being a bottom.

6. (physics) A top quark.
7. The utmost degree; the acme; the summit.
   • Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

     The top of my ambition is to contribute to that work.

8. (ropemaking) A plug, or conical block of wood, with longitudinal grooves on its surface, in which the strands of the rope slide in the process of twisting.
9. (sound) Highest pitch or loudest.

   She sang at the top of her voice.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.

10. (wool manufacture) A bundle or ball of slivers of combed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out.
11. (obsolete, except in one sense of phrase on top of) Eve; verge; point.
    • Richard Knolles (1545-1610)

      He was upon the top of his marriage with Magdaleine.

12. The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

13. (in the plural, slang, dated) Topboots.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Charles Dickens to this entry?)

14. (golf) A stroke on the top of the ball.
15. (golf) A forward spin given to the ball by hitting it on or near the top.
16. (in restaurants, preceded by a number) (A table at which there is, or which has enough seats for) a group of a specified number of people eating at a restaurant.
    • 2014, Jamey Glasnovic, Lost and Found: Adrift in the Canadian Rockies →ISBN, page 144:

      […] but with only three other tables on the patio apart from myself – two three-tops and a five-top – it's hard to imagine what the holdup is.

    • 2015, Jeff Benjamin, Front of the House: Restaurant Manners, Misbehaviors & Secrets →ISBN:

      It is uncanny how a server can stand in front of a ten top, without the safety net of pen and paper, and remember every item ordered by each guest including salads, […]

Verb

top (third-person singular simple present tops, present participle topping, simple past and past participle topped)

1. To cover on the top or with a top.

   I like my ice cream topped with chocolate sauce.

2. To cut or remove the top (as of a tree)

   I don't want to be bald, so just top my hair.

   Top and tail the carrots.

3. To excel, to surpass, to beat.

   Titanic was the most successful film ever until it was topped by another Cameron film, Avatar.

   • Shakespeare, King Lear

     Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, / And my invention thrive, Edmund the base / Shall top th' legitimate. I grow; I prosper […]

4. To be in the lead, to be at number one position (of).

   Celine Dion topped the UK music charts twice in the 1990s.

   • 2013, Phil McNulty, "", BBC Sport, 26 December 2013:

     Liverpool topped the table on Christmas Day and, after Arsenal's win at West Ham earlier on Boxing Day, would have returned to the top had they been the first team to beat City at home this season.

5. (Britain, slang) To commit suicide, (rare) to murder.

   Depression causes many people to top themselves.

6. (BDSM) To be the dominant partner in a BDSM relationship or roleplay.

   I used to be a slave, but I ended up topping.

   Giving advice to the dominant partner on how to run the BDSM session is called "topping from the bottom".

7. (slang, gay sexuality) To be the partner who penetrates in anal sex.
8. (archaic) To rise aloft; to be eminent; to tower.

   lofty ridges and topping mountains

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Derham to this entry?)

9. (archaic) To predominate.

   topping passions

   • John Locke

     influenced by topping uneasiness

10. (archaic) To excel; to rise above others.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)

11. (nautical) To raise one end of (a yard, etc.), making it higher than the other.
12. (dyeing) To cover with another dye.

    to top aniline black with methyl violet to prevent greening

13. To put a stiffening piece or back on (a saw blade).
14. (slang, dated) To arrange (fruit, etc.) with the best on top.
15. (of a horse) To strike the top of (an obstacle) with the hind feet while jumping, so as to gain new impetus.
16. To improve (domestic animals, especially sheep) by crossing certain individuals or breeds with other superior breeds.
17. To cut, break, or otherwise take off the top of (a steel ingot) to remove unsound metal.
18. (golf) To strike (the ball) above the centre; also, to make (a stroke, etc.) by hitting the ball in this way.

Adjective

top (not comparable)

1. Situated on the top of something.
2. (informal) Best; of the highest quality or rank.

   She's in the top dance school.

3. (informal) Very good, of high quality.

   He's a top lawyer.

   That is a top car.

Adverb

top (not comparable)

1. Rated first.

   She came top in her French exam.

See also

• topple

Anagrams

• OPT, OPt, OTP, PTO, TPO, oPt, opt, opt., pot

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish طوپ‎ (top).

Noun

top m (indefinite plural tope, definite singular topi, definite plural topet)

1. ball
2. (in the plural) slang for testicles

Noun

top

1. fog

Noun

top

1. ball
2. lump
3. cannon

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎, Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Noun

top c (singular definite toppen, plural indefinite toppe)

1. summit, peak
2. hairpiece
3. top (uppermost part, lid, cap, cover, garment worn to cover the torso, child’s spinning toy)

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔp

Adjective

top

1. (colloquial) great, very good

Noun

top m (plural toppen, diminutive topje n)

1. top (uppermost part)
2. (figuratively) apex
3. summit, peak (high point of a mountain)
4. summit, assembly
5. top (piece of women's clothing)

Verb

top

1. (denominal) first-person singular present indicative of toppen

Anagrams

• pot

Etymology

Borrowed from English top.

Noun

top m (invariable)

1. (woman's dressing, garment) top

Noun

top f

1. ball (object, generally spherical, used for playing games)
2. cannon

Verb

top

1. 3rd person singular present indicative form of tapt
2. 3rd person plural present indicative form of tapt
3. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of tapt
4. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of tapt

Adverb

top

1. very

References

• Hofling, Charles Andrew (2011). Mopan Maya–Spanish–English Dictionary, University of Utah Press.

Alternative forms

• tup, tupe, tope, toup

Etymology

From Frankish *topp.

Noun

top m (oblique plural tos, nominative singular tos, nominative plural top)

1. hair on top of one's head, forelock
2. top, highest point
3. tuft of flax placed on distaff
4. (nautical) top (ship)

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (top)
• tup on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

Etymology

Borrowed from English top.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈtɔp/, /ˈtɔ.pi/
• Homophone: tope

Adjective

top (invariable, comparable)

1. (colloquial) top; excellent; very high-quality

Noun

top m (plural tops)

1. top (garment worn to cover the torso)

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish طوپ‎ (top).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tôp/

Noun

tȍp m (Cyrillic spelling то̏п)

1. cannon
2. (chess) rook

See also

Chess pieces in Serbo-Croatian · šahovske figure / шаховске фигуре (layout · text)
kralj краљ	dama, kraljica дама, краљица	top, kula топ, кула	lovac, trkač, laufer ловац, тркач, лауфер	skakač, konj скакач, коњ	pješak, pešak, pion, pijun пјешак, пешак, пион, пијун

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *tǫpъ.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish طوپ‎ (top).

Noun

top m (plural tops)

1. rundown (of a list)
2. top (clothing)

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish طوپ‎ (top), from Old Turkic tōp‎, tolp‎.

Noun

top (definite accusative topu, plural toplar)

1. ball
2. cannon
3. (slang) gay

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos, “place”).

Noun

top (plural tops)

1. place