What is "top and but"

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.]

1. 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.

2. The utmost degree; the acme; the summit.

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

3. 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.

4. The chief person; the most prominent one.

   Other . . . aspired to be the top of zealots.
   --Milton.

5. 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.

6. The head, or upper part, of a plant.

   The buds . . . are called heads, or tops, as cabbageheads.
   --I. Watts.

7. (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.

8. (Wool Manuf.) A bundle or ball of slivers of comkbed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out.

9. Eve; verge; point. [R.] ``He was upon the top of his marriage with Magdaleine.''
   --Knolles.

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

11. pl. Top-boots. [Slang]
    --Dickens.

12. (Golf)

    1. A stroke on the top of the ball.

    2. 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.

n. (context shipbuilding English) 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.