The Collaborative International Dictionary
Top \Top\, n. [AS. top; akin to OFries. top a tuft, D. top top, OHG. zopf end, tip, tuft of hair, G. zopf tuft of hair, pigtail, top of a tree, Icel. toppr a tuft of hair, crest, top, Dan. top, Sw. topp pinnacle, top; of uncertain origin. Cf. Tuft.]
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The highest part of anything; the upper end, edge, or extremity; the upper side or surface; summit; apex; vertex; cover; lid; as, the top of a spire; the top of a house; the top of a mountain; the top of the ground.
The star that bids the shepherd fold, Now the top of heaven doth hold.
--Milton. -
The utmost degree; the acme; the summit.
The top of my ambition is to contribute to that work.
--Pope. -
The highest rank; the most honorable position; the utmost attainable place; as, 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.
--Shak. -
The chief person; the most prominent one.
Other . . . aspired to be the top of zealots.
--Milton. -
The crown of the head, or the hair upon it; the head. ``From top to toe''
--Spenser.All the stored vengeance of Heaven fall On her ungrateful top !
--Shak. -
The head, or upper part, of a plant.
The buds . . . are called heads, or tops, as cabbageheads.
--I. Watts. (Naut.) A platform surrounding the head of the lower mast and projecting on all sudes. It serves to spead the topmast rigging, thus strengheningthe mast, and also furnishes a convenient standing place for the men aloft.
--Totten.(Wool Manuf.) A bundle or ball of slivers of comkbed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out.
Eve; verge; point. [R.] ``He was upon the top of his marriage with Magdaleine.''
--Knolles.The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface.
--Knight.pl. Top-boots. [Slang]
--Dickens.-
(Golf)
A stroke on the top of the ball.
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A forward spin given to the ball by hitting it on or near the top.
Note: Top is often used adjectively or as the first part of compound words, usually self-explaining; as, top stone, or topstone; top-boots, or top boots; top soil, or top-soil.
Top and but (Shipbuilding), a phrase used to denote a method of working long tapering planks by bringing the but of one plank to the top of the other to make up a constant breadth in two layers.
Top minnow (Zo["o]l.), a small viviparous fresh-water fish ( Gambusia patruelis) abundant in the Southern United States. Also applied to other similar species.
From top to toe, from head to foot; altogether.