top

n. [ CF. OD. dop, top, OHG., MNG., & dial. G. topf; perhaps akin to G. topf a pot. ] 1. A child's toy, commonly in the form of a conoid or pear, made to spin on its point, usually by drawing off a string wound round its surface or stem, the motion being sometimes continued by means of a whip. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Rope Making) A plug, or conical block of wood, with longitudital grooves on its surface, in which the strands of the rope slide in the process of twisting. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To cover on the top; to tip; to cap; -- chiefly used in the past participle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like moving mountains topped with snow. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

A mount
Of alabaster, topped with golden spires. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To rise above; to excel; to outgo; to surpass. [ 1913 Webster ]

Topping all others in boasting. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Edmund the base shall top the legitimate. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To rise to the top of; to go over the top of. [ 1913 Webster ]

But wind about till thou hast topped the hill. Denham. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To take off the or upper part of; to crop. [ 1913 Webster ]

Top your rose trees a little with your knife. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To perform eminently, or better than before. [ 1913 Webster ]

From endeavoring universally to top their parts, they will go universally beyond them. Jeffrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Naut.) To raise one end of, as a yard, so that that end becomes higher than the other. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Dyeing) To cover with another dye; as, to top aniline black with methyl violet to prevent greening and crocking. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

8. To put a stiffening piece or back on (a saw blade). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

9. To arrange, as fruit, with the best on top. [ Cant ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

10. To strike the top of, as a wall, with the hind feet, in jumping, so as to gain new impetus; -- said of a horse. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

11. To improve (domestic animals, esp. sheep) by crossing certain individuals or breeds with other superior. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

12. (Naut.) To raise one end of, as a yard, so that that end becomes higher than the other. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

13. To cut, break, or otherwise take off the top of (a steel ingot) to remove unsound metal. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

14. (Golf) To strike (the ball) above the center; also, to make (as a stroke) by hitting the ball in this way. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

To top off, (a) to complete by putting on, or finishing, the top or uppermost part of; as, to top off a stack of hay; hence, to complete; to finish; to adorn. (b) to completely fill (an almost full tank) by adding more of the liquid it already contains. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The star that bids the shepherd fold,
Now the top of heaven doth hold. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The utmost degree; the acme; the summit. [ 1913 Webster ]

The top of my ambition is to contribute to that work. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

And wears upon his baby brow the round
And top of sovereignty. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The chief person; the most prominent one. [ 1913 Webster ]

Other . . . aspired to be the top of zealots. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The crown of the head, or the hair upon it; the head. “From top to toe” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

All the stored vengeance of Heaven fall
On her ungrateful top ! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The head, or upper part, of a plant. [ 1913 Webster ]

The buds . . . are called heads, or tops, as cabbageheads. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Wool Manuf.) A bundle or ball of slivers of comkbed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Eve; verge; point. [ R. ] “He was upon the top of his marriage with Magdaleine.” Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. pl. Top-boots. [ Slang ] Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. toparcha, Gr. &unr_;; &unr_; a place + &unr_; to govern, to rule. ] The ruler or principal man in a place or country; the governor of a toparchy. [ 1913 Webster ]

The prince and toparch of that country. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Toparchies [ L. toparchia, Gr. &unr_;. See Toparch. ] A small state, consisting of a few cities or towns; a petty country governed by a toparch; as, Judea was formerly divided into ten toparchies. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A top railing supported by stanchions and equipped with netting. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The rhinocerous bird (a). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. topas, F. topaze, L. topazos, or topazion, a kind of precious stone, Gr. to`pazos, topa`zion; possibly akin to Skr. tap to glow (cf. Tepid). According to some, the name is from Topazos, a small island in the Red Sea, where the Romans obtained a stone which they called by this name, but which is the chrysolite of the moderns. ] 1. (Min.) A mineral occurring in rhombic prisms, generally yellowish and pellucid, also colorless, and of greenesh, bluish, or brownish shades. It sometimes occurs massive and opaque. It is a fluosilicate of alumina, and is used as a gem. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Either one of two species of large, brilliantly colored humming birds of the genus Topaza (Topaza pella or Topaza pyra), of South America and the West Indies. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The two tail feathers next to the central ones are much longer that the rest, curved, and crossed. The Throat is metallic yellowish-green, with a tint like topaz in the center, the belly is bright crimson, the back bright red. Called also topaz hummer. [ 1913 Webster ]

False topaz. (Min.) See the Note under Quartz. [ 1913 Webster ]