topline

topline noun: the upper curvature of a horse's or dog's withers, back, and loin.

Noun

topline (plural toplines)

The upper curvature of a horse's or dog's withers, back, and loin.
- When viewing the horse in profile, attention must be paid to the curvature and proportions of the topline.2002, Ted S. Stashak, Ora Robert Adams, Adams' Lameness in Horses, page 75
(attributive, often) Top billing.
- In recent weeks Cosby has, perhaps more than any other topline entertainer of the moment, been both at the pinnacle and at the crossroads.1969 July, Ebony, volume 24, number 9, page 146
(attributive, often) The first line, the topmost-ranking line; the most important thing.
- Near-synonyms: (in attributive uses) TLDR, BLUF, bottom-line, bottom line
- topline takeaways
Synonyms:

TLDR, BLUF, bottom-line, bottom line
The edge that runs along the top of the opening of a shoe.
The vocal parts of a piece of music (particularly pop).

topline (third-person singular simple present toplines, present participle toplining, simple past and past participle toplined)

(transitive) To bill (a performer) as the primary entertainer in a production.
- A popular series of musical shorts he made for Mack Sennett's company in 1930 added to his success as a radio vocalist, and had made him a star by the end of 1931, when Paramount toplined him in The Big Broadcast […]1983, John Kobal, A History of Movie Musicals: Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance, page 147
(ambitransitive) To be billed as the primary entertainer in (a production).
- [Whitney] Houston's success in music led her to topline the features "Waiting to Exhale," "The Preacher's Wife" and the telefilm "Cinderella."Variety https://web.archive.org/web/20120216113023/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118050123?refCatId=16
- Although occasionally he toplined in a “B” picture, he found his greatest achievements were as a character actor.2006, Everett Aaker, Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters, page 418
(transitive) (music) To compose and/or sing the vocal part of a song (particularly pop).

Noun
plural	toplines
Verb
third-person singular present	toplines
present participle	toplining
past participle	toplined
past	toplined

From top + line.

What does topline mean?: Topline means the upper curvature of a horse's or dog's withers, back, and loin.
What part of speech is topline?: Topline can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of topline?: The plural of topline is toplines.

Adapted from Wiktionary: topline (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “topline.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/topline. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.