top

Noun

top (countable and uncountable, plural tops)

1. The highest or uppermost part of something.
   • His kite got caught at the top of the tree.
   • 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

   Synonyms:

   peak, summit, overside, cap

   Antonyms:

   bottom, base, underside

   1. (irrespective of present orientation) The part of something that is usually highest or uppermost.
      • 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), archived from the original on 20 Nov 2018
   2. 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.
   3. A lid, cap, or cover of a container.
      • Put a top on the toothpaste tube or it will go bad.
   4. A garment worn to cover the torso.
      • I bought this top as it matches my jeans.
      • I like this pyjama top.
   5. A framework at the top of a ship's mast to which rigging is attached.
   6. The first half of an inning, during which the home team fields and the visiting team bats.
   7. (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...
2. The near end of somewhere.
   • The patio is at the top of my garden.
   • The shop is at the top of my street.
3. A child's spinning toy; a spinning top.
   • The boy was amazed at how long the top would spin.
4. (archaic) The chief person; the most prominent one.
   • to be the top of zealots1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC
5. 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...
6. 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
7. 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

   Synonyms:

   dom, dominant, domme, dominatrix

   1. (broadly) A dominant partner in a sexual relationship.
8. (LGBTQ slang) 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

   Synonyms:

   pitcher

9. (Multicultural-London-English, slang, vulgar, African-American Vernacular) Fellatio; a blowjob.
   • 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

   Synonyms:

   brain, dome, head, mouth music, neck, Kirk

10. (particle) A top quark.
11. 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.
12. 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.

Verb

top (third-person singular simple present tops, present participle topping, simple past and past participle topped)

1. To cover on the top or with a top.
   • I like my ice cream topped with chocolate sauce.
2. To exceed in height.
   • 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
3. 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...

   Synonyms:

   beat, better, best, exceed, bear away the bell, overtake, dwarf, eclipse, excel, hold the cards

4. 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.
6. (Australia, UK, reflexive, slang) To commit suicide.
   • Depression causes many people to top themselves.
7. (Australia, UK, archaic, rare, slang) To murder or execute.
   • 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

   Synonyms:

   kill, murder, slaughter, slay, annihilate, bag, baptize, bereave of life, blight, bring down

8. 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".
9. (intransitive, transitive, LGBTQ slang) To penetrate during sexual intercourse.
10. (archaic) To rise aloft; to be eminent; to tower.
    • topping passions
    • 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
11. (archaic) To excel; to rise above others.
12. To raise one end of (a yard, etc.), making it higher than the other.

Adjective

top (not comparable)

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.
4. Relating to the chest or breasts.
   • top surgery

Adverb

top (not comparable)

1. Best, highest.
   • Our product is top-rated on all major platforms.
   • This is the top-performing school in the area.

   Synonyms:

   first

Interjection

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...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)

Proper noun capitalized: Top

Top (plural Tops)

1. A surname.