from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
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The star that bids the shepherd fold,
Now the top of heaven doth hold. --Milton.
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2. The utmost degree; the acme; the summit.
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The top of my ambition is to contribute to that
work. --Pope.
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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.
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And wears upon his baby brow the round
And top of sovereignty. --Shak.
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4. The chief person; the most prominent one.
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Other . . . aspired to be the top of zealots.
--Milton.
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5. The crown of the head, or the hair upon it; the head.
"From top to toe" --Spenser.
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All the stored vengeance of Heaven fall
On her ungrateful top ! --Shak.
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6. The head, or upper part, of a plant.
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The buds . . . are called heads, or tops, as
cabbageheads. --I. Watts.
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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.
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8. (Wool Manuf.) A bundle or ball of slivers of comkbed wool,
from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out.
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9. Eve; verge; point. [R.] "He was upon the top of his
marriage with Magdaleine." --Knolles.
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10. The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or
circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface.
--Knight.
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11. pl. Top-boots. [Slang] --Dickens.
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12. (Golf)
(a) A stroke on the top of the ball.
(b) A forward spin given to the ball by hitting it on or
near the top.
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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.
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{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} (Zool.), 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.
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