Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use atop in a sentence

40 example sentences · preposition, adverb

Atop means on the top of. Example: “He sat atop the mountain, waiting for the end of the world.”

Examples of atop by meaning

prepositionOn the top of.

  • He sat atop the mountain, waiting for the end of the world.
  • "And other things," she echoed, nodding slowly and resting her body a little more atop him again.2006, Dewey Lambdin, The Gun Ketch, page 48

prepositionOn the top (with of).

  • He sat atop of the mountain, waiting for the end of the world.

adverbOn, to, or at the top.

  • He has a handsome face, still bearded in the midst of a mostly clean-shaving nation, and with the white hairs prevalent on the cheeks and temples; his head is bald atop, though hardly from the uneasiness of wearing a crown.1909, William Dean Howells, Seven English Cities, Kessinger Publishing, published 2004, page 46
  • The envoy found the French king playing the part of horse while his young son rode atop.1978, James C. Humes, Speaker's Treasury of Anecdotes About the Famous, Harper & Row, published 1978, page 102
  • Everything large or small is carried atop out of habit as much as necessity, like a delightful but defiant challenge to the laws of gravity.1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 52

More sentences with atop

  • The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries.From the entry sit
  • With bulging crops, the vultures settle their heads atop folded wings and slide their nictitating membranes shut.2015 December, Elizabeth Royte, “Vultures Are Revolting. Here’s Why We Need to Save Them.”, in National Geographic, archived from the…. From the entry crop
  • He turned, eyes meeting a pair similar to his own atop a black mustache.2015, Laureen Cantwell, Leonard Gill, Memphis Noir, Akashic Books, →ISBN, page 278. From the entry skinfolk
  • Simply stated, Earth's plates are “floating” atop a thick semimolten mass called the mantle.2015, Joyce A. Quinn, Susan L. Woodward, “Introduction”, in Earth's Landscape: An Encyclopedia of the World's Geographic Features, volumes…. From the entry semimolten
  • Then, atop all, he strapped on an item of shaped metal he called a tace.2013 October 18, Eileen Gunn, Questionable Practices: Stories, Small Beer Press, →ISBN. From the entry stomacher
  • An alabaster white seagull standing atop a litterbin is bending to pull a chipshop carrierbag from within.2013, Sam Smith, chapter 21, in Marraton, Beaworthy, Devon: Indigo Dreams Publishing, →ISBN, page 164. From the entry carrierbag
  • J’soun removed his helmet to reveal the two small horns atop his head.2011, J. R. Troha, Swords and Talons, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 94. From the entry bicorn
  • Razor's mother hollered and spread her body atop her son's shiny death box.2011, Amaleka McCall, Hard Candy. From the entry deathbox
  • Atop this many-drawered enormity was an additional set of drawers attached to a mirror.2010, A. C. Nicholas, Anna and the Tale of the Wolf, page 251. From the entry drawered
  • The desiccated scoreboard flag wiggled atop an Impala that doughnutted the fifty-yard line.2009, Jamie Iredell, Prose. Poems. A Novel., Orange Alert Press, →ISBN, page 27. From the entry doughnut
  • A pair of lasery, talon-rich claws landed atop two capsized frigates to survey the damage.2008, Mister Rengerz [pseudonym], “Commotion from the Ocean”, in Ring Dragonz, Rockford, Ill.: Helm Publishing, →ISBN, page 243. From the entry lasery
  • Pain knifed up his leg as he landed, the ladder atop him.2007, Allison Lane, The Duchess's Diary. From the entry knife up
  • Exhausted, I canter through postpandrial naps atop a Senegalese camel, and in full beau geste.2006, Louise Mushikiwabo with Jack Kramer, Rwanda Means the Universe, St. Martins Press, page 143. From the entry belle sabreuse
  • A sudoku book sits atop the Nielsen BookScan nonfiction best-seller list.2005 May 23, Eric Pfanner, “Puzzling phenomenon sweeps British papers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 28 Oct 2021. From the entry nonfiction
  • Standing atop the ridgeline, King Edward watched the nightmare scenario he himself had predicted.2005, Margaret Weis, chapter 34, in Master of Dragons, Macmillan, →ISBN. From the entry ridgeline
  • Following the king’s command, he was entombed atop a great boulder on the Eastern Sea.[2005 [1989], Choi Hee An, “The Tradition of Buddhism”, in Korean Women and God: Experiencing God in a Multi-religious Colonial Context…. From the entry Yonglong
  • Shouldering his own leaden-footed scrum-half aside, Thorn dived atop quicksilver Jood with a bone crunching tackle.2004, Pat Stevens, Politics Is the Greatest Game: A Johannesburg Liberal Lampoon, →ISBN. From the entry eighthman
  • But for dark wartime romance, the Center sat atop my epochʼs cultural repertoire, undislodgeable.1995, Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2, Vintage (2019), page 196. From the entry undislodgeable
  • You get there atop a small but footsure donkey led by energetic and equally footsure youngsters.1994, George McDonald, Marylyn Springer, Frommer's Comprehensive Travel Guide, Cruises, 1995-1996, page 48. From the entry footsure
  • The suspended subject immediately gripped the new support pedally and moved atop it.1992, Toshisada Nishida, Topics in primatology - Volume 1, →ISBN, page 147. From the entry pedally
  • Deliberately settling atop his groin, she pressed her cotton-pantied crotch against him and wiggled.1991, Deborah Smith, Miracle. From the entry pantied
  • These little plants that I top-water sit on egg-crating which is atop a capillary mat.1986, The Indoor Garden - Volumes 23-26. From the entry egg-crating
  • The intergrown foliage atop a xylosma hedge appears to be delicately balanced on long wooden fingers.1978, Oliver E. Allen, Pruning and Grafting, page 93. From the entry delicately
  • A horsemaster at heart, she finds instant enjoyment atop a fast steed.1968, 1968 Mirror, Waltham, Mass.: Waltham High School, page 81. From the entry horsemaster
  • Once again atop the high bank and by the prison perimeter, we soon were surrounded by four correction officers.2014, Riley McLincha, The Runyaker’s Journey, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 179. From the entry good cop, bad cop
  • This newborn is half asleep, half awake, perched, docked really, atop the carriage in a comfy baby seat at table height.2013, Joe Wise, The Truth in Twenty ... and Then Some. From the entry youngsome
  • The flames melt into each other like antishadows, climb atop the backs of old papers and twigs and start to burn.2012, Leah Bobet, Above, →ISBN. From the entry antishadow
  • Her red Marc Jacobs bag was the same shade as the red cabbie hat perched jauntily atop her head.2012, Kate Brian, Legacy. From the entry matchiness
  • All the more shocking is Layton’s hairdo from years back, a wild mass of frizz atop his disturbingly top-hatless head.2012 September, Phil Theobald, “How to Become a Gentleman”, in Chris Slate, editor, Nintendo Power, number 282, San Francisco, Calif.…. From the entry top-hatless
  • The Lord of Blood, adorned with glossy armor and atop a stalwart steed, appeared to have the opulence of a king.2010, Rhett C. Bruno, Isinda: Fallen Dagger, Tate Publishing, →ISBN, page 126. From the entry coal
  • A wafer-and-syrup pastry sandwich served atop a steaming cup of coffee, stroopwafel slowly transforms into a warm, soft treat.2008, Marybeth Bond, Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Books, →ISBN, page 201. From the entry stroopwafel
  • Probably the one Du Fu was thinking of was atop Qiu Pool Mountain 仇池山 in modern Xihe County 西和縣, Gansu.2006, Ronald Egan, “Art Collecting and Its Discontents in the Lives of Su Shi, Wang Shen, and Mi Fu”, in The Problem of Beauty: Aesthetic…. From the entry Xihe
  • At one point he even lifts his cap to reveal an egghead bald-cap atop white hair and spectacles.2002, Robert Ross, The Complete Terry Thomas, page 87. From the entry egghead
  • Daylong you swayed and woozed, sunstruck atop a camel's hump, halfway gaga, your sand-coated tongue a breaded cutlet.2002, Roger Fanning, Homesick, →ISBN, page 10. From the entry wooze

Meaning of atop

  1. preposition On the top of.
  2. preposition On the top (with of).
  3. adverb On, to, or at the top.

Full definition of atop

Questions about atop in a sentence

How do you use atop in a sentence?
Atop is used as a preposition and adverb. For example: “He sat atop the mountain, waiting for the end of the world.”
What is a short sentence with atop?
“The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries.”
What does atop mean?
Atop means on the top of.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: atop (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use atop in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/atop. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.