From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English topp (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin. Compare typologically Latin apex (<< Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, attach, fasten, fit”)). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), Cimbrian sòpf (“braid”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), German Topp (“top of a mast”), Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Luxembourgish Zapp (“plait, tress”), Vilamovian cöp (“braid, plait”), Yiddish צאָפּ (tsop, “braid”), Danish top (“top”), Icelandic toppur (“top”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Italian zuffa (“brawl”). The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.
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,[…].1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
2
The part of something that is usually highest or uppermost.
Irrespective of present orientation
We flipped the machine onto its top.
To mount the V8, I simply placed it on its top, and then prepped the mobo/CPU for installation (applied thermal compound).2013 March 20, Dewayne Carel, “Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), retrieved 01 Oct 2017:
3
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.
4
A lid, cap, or cover of a container.
Put a top on the toothpaste tube or it will go bad.
5
A garment worn to cover the torso.
I bought this top as it matches my jeans.
I like this pyjama top.
6
A framework at the top of a ship's mast to which rigging is attached.
7
Ball games, Baseball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The first half of an inning, during which the home team fields and the visiting team bats.
8
Archaic The crown of the head, or the hair upon it; the head.
Like glauncing light of Phoebus brightest ray; From top to toe no place appeared bare1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 39:
All the stored vengeances of Heaven fall / On her ungrateful top!c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
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The near end of somewhere.
The patio is at the top of my garden.
The shop is at the top of my street.
10
A child's spinning toy; a spinning top.
The boy was amazed at how long the top would spin.
to be the top of zealots1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC:
12
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
And wears upon his baby brow the round / And top of sovereignty.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
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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.2011 September 29, Tom Rostance, “Stoke 2-1 Besiktas”, in BBC Sport:
The criticism came from the very top of Australian politics, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suggesting Thursday that Jones should try her luck with another Australian animal that was more likely to put up a fight.2025 March 13, Hilary Whiteman, “US tourist filmed running off with baby wombat flees Australia after visa threat”, in CNN:
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Business, Finance A peak price of a security during a trading period, before it begins a downward trend.
the daily average price of packer and shipper purchases ranging between $14 and $16. Beginning with the middle of September prices moved sharply upward until a top of $18.25 was reached during the week of Sept. 25. From this high point prices moved downward sharply […]1921, The Market Reporter, volumes 3-4, United States. Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates, page 22:
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BDSM, Lifestyle, Sexuality A dominant partner in a sadomasochistic relationship or roleplay.
As I went on doing s/m more and more, I found the idea of topping real attractive and so I started to do that. At this point in my life I'm playing top almost all the time.1981 August 15, Nancy Wechsler, “Sadomasochism: Fears, Facts, Fantasies”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 5, page 8:
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BDSM, Lifestyle, SexualityBroadly A dominant partner in a sexual relationship.
16
A person who penetrates or has a preference for penetrating during intercourse.
I prefer being a top, and my boyfriend prefers being a bottom.
Jean-Alain is a man of great physical strength, and Jesse is sure he is quite a handful for his tops.2020, Paul Mendez, Rainbow Milk, Dialogue Books (2021), page 336:
Running up a check, I'ma drop the top Baby gimme neck, you know I want some top You ain't tryna fuck, then baby don't just stop2016 November 18, J $tash, “Guap”, in No More Distractions:
I get some top in my coupe […] Look at yo bitch she gon' choose She gon' give me top (on my block Avenue)2017, Juice Wrld, “2017 Freestyle”, in Unreleased Songs:
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I just bought a new Ferrari off the lot, said she a virgin but she wanna give me top, she need some money so she call my phone a lot, I picked it up and then I told that bitch to stop.2017, T-Wayne, “Double Standards” (track 2, 0:42–0:55 from the start), in Forever Rickey:
Man chingy chingy on opps, catch ringy ringy, want lots And clingy, clingy, got dots She is a bad b, she gives tops2017 December 22, “No Hook”, performed by 61 – Cee Drilla x Beans x Nz x Ruger, 0:53–1:00:
His bitch gave me some top, and now he wanna send me threats2019 March 19, Nav, “Price on My Head”, in Bad Habits:
I like gettin' top (Ooh), I like drivin' coupes […] Yeah I got Erza Scarlet tryna fuck (Yeah, ooh) Gettin' top and watching Crunchyroll2019 November 20, Oliver Francis, “I Like”, in The Adventures Of Oliver Francis:
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Natural sciences, Physical sciences, PhysicsParticle A top quark.
19
The utmost degree; the acme; the summit.
June 18 1714, Alexander Pope, letter to Jonathan Swift The top of my own ambition is to contribute to that work.
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Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Nautical, Ropemaking, Transport 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.
21
Highest pitch or loudest volume.
She sang at the top of her voice.
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.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
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A bundle or ball of slivers of combed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out.
Wool manufacture
Most cotton is sold as top, requiring only predrafting prior to spinning.2014, W. J. Johnson, Yarn Works: How to Spin, Dye, and Knit Your Own Yarn, page 32:
There was one pair of boots in particular — a jolly, good-tempered, hearty-looking, pair of tops, that excited our warmest regard1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC:
Ball games, Billiards, Games, Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Racquet sports, Sports A forward spin given to the ball by hitting it on or near the top; topspin.
What is wanted is just the reverse - i.e top or overspin, which causes the ball to revolve in the direction in which it is going.1886, E.T.Sachs, The Boys Own Annual: Lawn-Tennis of the Present, volume 9, page 778:
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In restaurants (A table at which there is, or which has enough seats for) a group of a specified number of people eating at a restaurant.
Preceded by a number
[…] 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.2014, Jamey Glasnovic, Lost and Found: Adrift in the Canadian Rockies, →ISBN, page 144:
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, […]2015, Jeff Benjamin, Front of the House: Restaurant Manners, Misbehaviors & Secrets, →ISBN:
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Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of topswarm.
My first topswarm came off on the 25th June, and a second top on the day following; both were put into skeps of one size, and appeared to be equal as regards the number of Bees.1866, The Scottish Gardener, page 397:
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Government, Military, Politics, War The First Sergeant or Master Sergeant (U.S. Marine Corps), senior enlisted man at company level.
From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English topp (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin. Compare typologically Latin apex (<< Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, attach, fasten, fit”)). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), Cimbrian sòpf (“braid”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), German Topp (“top of a mast”), Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Luxembourgish Zapp (“plait, tress”), Vilamovian cöp (“braid, plait”), Yiddish צאָפּ (tsop, “braid”), Danish top (“top”), Icelandic toppur (“top”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Italian zuffa (“brawl”). The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.
Five were proper slender youths, the eldest of whom had not yet beard full grown, black-browed and great of jaw; the sixth, huge as a neat, topped them by half a head.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 17:
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To excel, to surpass, to beat, to exceed.
Titanic was the most successful film ever until it was topped by another Cameron film, Avatar.
Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, / And my invention thrive, Edmund the base / Shall top th' legitimate. I grow; I prosperc. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
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Within months, sales of ONE magazine were topping 2,000 copies.2005 August 23, Leslie Feinberg, “Headwaters of first mass political gay movement rise”, in Workers World:
The HSDT team, however, had some work to do, although by the end of 1972 the power car interior had been adjusted and BR had agreed to 'double-manning' with extra pay when speeds topped the ton. [exceeded 100 mph]2021 October 6, Greg Morse, “A need for speed and the drive for 125”, in RAIL, number 941, page 50:
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To be in the lead, to be at number one position (of).
Celine Dion topped the UK music charts twice in the 1990s.
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.2013 December 26, Phil McNulty, BBC Sport:
5
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.
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Topping depletes the tree of stored energy reserves and reduces the tree's ability to produce energy, as a large percentage of the leaves are removed.2003, Dan Prendergast, Erin Prendergast, The Tree Doctor: A Guide to Tree Care and Maintenance, →ISBN, page 78:
Thirty-six were cast for death, and only one was ‘topped’ (hanged), the very one that expected to be ‘turned up’ (acquitted) for highway robbery.1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
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BDSM, Lifestyle, Sexuality 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".
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As I went on doing s/m more and more, I found the idea of topping real attractive and so I started to do that. At this point in my life I'm playing top almost all the time.1981 August 15, Nancy Wechsler, “Sadomasochism: Fears, Facts, Fantasies”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 5, page 8:
lofty and topping mountains1713, W[illiam] Derham, Physico-Theology: Or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation. […], London: […] W[illiam] Innys, […], →OCLC:
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, Book II, Chapter XXI influenced by that topping uneasiness
From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English topp (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin. Compare typologically Latin apex (<< Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, attach, fasten, fit”)). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), Cimbrian sòpf (“braid”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), German Topp (“top of a mast”), Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Luxembourgish Zapp (“plait, tress”), Vilamovian cöp (“braid, plait”), Yiddish צאָפּ (tsop, “braid”), Danish top (“top”), Icelandic toppur (“top”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Italian zuffa (“brawl”). The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.
1
Situated on the top of something.
2
Informal Best; of the highest quality, fame or rank.
She's in the top dance school.
3
Informal Very good, of high quality, power, or rank.
He's a top lawyer.
That is a top car.
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In a thread called “Calm Before the Storm”, and in subsequent posts, Q established his legend as a government insider with top security clearance who knew the truth about a secret struggle for power involving Donald Trump, the “deep state”, Robert Mueller, the Clintons, pedophile rings, and other stuff.2018 July 31, Julia Carrie Wong, “What is QAnon? Explaining the bizarre rightwing conspiracy theory”, in The Guardian:
From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English topp (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin. Compare typologically Latin apex (<< Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, attach, fasten, fit”)). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), Cimbrian sòpf (“braid”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), German Topp (“top of a mast”), Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Luxembourgish Zapp (“plait, tress”), Vilamovian cöp (“braid, plait”), Yiddish צאָפּ (tsop, “braid”), Danish top (“top”), Icelandic toppur (“top”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Italian zuffa (“brawl”). The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.
From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English topp (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin. Compare typologically Latin apex (<< Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, attach, fasten, fit”)). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), Cimbrian sòpf (“braid”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), German Topp (“top of a mast”), Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Luxembourgish Zapp (“plait, tress”), Vilamovian cöp (“braid, plait”), Yiddish צאָפּ (tsop, “braid”), Danish top (“top”), Icelandic toppur (“top”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Italian zuffa (“brawl”). The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.
1
Obsolete The signal among tailors and seamstresses for snuffing the candle. The last of them to cry "top" had to snuff the candle.
My hairs, you perceive, are grown grey in following our sublime trade: full many a time have I cried top in the winter, the first of all the gentlemen on the board; and many a time has it fallen to my lot to apply the snuffers, and take off the filthy excrescence from the candle myself, but never before, in the experience of fifty long years, was it thought that English tailors were inferior to foreign ones.1819, New Bon Ton Magazine; Or, Telescope of the Times, page 93:
"Well," replied Davie, […] "a wilful woman must have her way like any man — and I doubt your patience is sorely tried, Barbara — Top!" This last expression, which may seem rather irrelevant, had direct reference to the wick of the candle, which required snuffing […]1879, Jacob Thompson (jun.), Eldmuir (page 21)