topper meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

topper

noun

UK /ˈtɒpə/ · US /ˈtɑpɚ/

Etymology From Middle English toppor, equivalent to top + -er.

17 senses

Something that is on top.

Deal for network star Henry Morgan to sign a Majestic contract for two albums has fallen thru, with Paul Baron, newly-named artist and repertoire topper at the diskery, kiboshing a deal that virtually had been consummated between his predecessors and Music Corporation of America (MCA).1947 September 6, “Paul Baron Nixes 2 Morgan Albums”, in Joseph G. Csida, editor, The Billboard: The World’s Foremost Amusement Weekly, volume 59, number 35, Cincinnati, Oh.: Roger S. Littleford Jr.; William D. Littleford, →OCLC, page 14, column 3:
Chicken livers, of course, can also be gently fried, mashed in butter, and spread as a toast topper.1999, John Yeoman, Self Reliance: A Recipe for the New Millennium, page 55:

1 more example

UK act the Prodigy will headline the Boiler Room, with chart toppers the Ting Tings playing at 2.15pm on the green stage.2009 January 26, Cameron Adams, “Sniffer dogs have their Big Day Out”, in Herald Sun, archived from the original on 31 May 2009:

A top hat.

When King George sat down in Perylon Hall he thrust his gray topper under the chair, just as you do when you're in the Automat.1939 June 12, “At the fair”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
This is another area in which it's hard to tell the dude from the twitcher, as ratting caps and deerstalkers, flying helmets and even toppers are considered acceptably eccentric.1980, Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book, page 61:

Something that exceeds those previous in a series, as a joke or prank.

US A short outer jacket worn by women or children.

She was wearing her short pink topper and the small red hat that tilted over one eye so that she looked like a refugee starlet from the Gold Diggers film series.1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN:

A soft, relatively thin, piece of padding placed on top of a mattress, or forming the upper layer of a mattress.

India The student who achieves the highest score in an examination.

Colloquial The head or chief of an organization.

Cooley currently is ironing out details of the proposed kinescoping with Klaus Landsberg, topper at KTLA, over whose facilities the hour-long show has been telecast […]1953 August 29, Billboard, page 4:

A person or tool that cuts off the top of something.

At first, in the pines, he had worked as a topper in his strong and boldest days, walking up the trees two hundred feet […]1980, Barry Targan, Kingdoms, page 24:
The only problem is that the best egg toppers, which are different from egg cutters, are an investment — the Inox professional egg topper is $55 at surlatable.com .2007 October 14, Amanda Hesser, “2000: Le Bernardin’s Croque-Monsieur”, in New York Times:

One who tops steel ingots.

A single-handed dinghy, 11 foot (3.6 metres) in length, with only one sail.

A three-square float, or file, used by comb-makers.

Dated, Slang Tobacco left in the bottom of a pipe bowl; so called from being often taken out and placed on top of the newly filled bowl.

One man was faithful to his pipe, and kept / Despair and deeper misery at bay, / By seeking ever for a "topper," dropped / From some spurned pipe, but that he could not find; […]1875, E. R. Billings, Tobacco (page 189)

Dated, Slang A fine or remarkable thing or person.

It was a topper of a day for a Sale, although the heat would be hard on the beasts that had come a long way.1957, Allan Campbell McLean, Storm Over Skye, page 194:

Dated, Slang A blow on the head.

A small secondary comic strip seen along with a larger Sunday strip, and usually by the same author.

Ireland A pencil sharpener.

Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of hair topper.

These toppers are crafted with a lower density of hair, which makes them blend seamlessly2024 May 6, E-litchi:
A topper is a hairpiece or partial wig designed to add volume and coverage to specific areas of the scalp, effectively concealing thinning hair2024 October 25, Dimples Hair Team, Dimples:

Derived terms: bell-topper, be-toppered, cartopper, chart-topper, cherry topper, egg topper, hair topper, mattress topper, open-topper, pencil topper, toppered, topper-offer, tree topper
Related terms: tip-topper, top off, topping