top

From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English top (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin.

Cognate with Scots tap (“top”), North Frisian top, tap, tup (“top”), Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), West Frisian top (“top”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), Low German Topp (“top”), German Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Icelandic toppur (“top”).

The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tɒp/, [tʰɒˀp]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /tɑp/, [tʰɑˀp]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒp

top (countable and uncountable, plural tops)

1. The highest or uppermost part of something.

   Synonyms: peak, summit, overside

   Antonyms: bottom, base, underside

   His kite got caught at the top of the tree.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175:

     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, […].

   1. (irrespective of present orientation) the part of something that is usually the top.
      • 2013 March 20, Dewayne Carel, “Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, retrieved 1 October 2017:

        To mount the V8, I simply placed it on its top, and then prepped the mobo/CPU for installation (applied thermal compound).

      We flipped the machine onto its top.

   2. The uppermost part of a page, picture, viewing screen, etc.

      Synonym: (of a page) head

      Antonym: (of a page) foot

      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.

      Synonyms: cap, coverlid

      Put a top on the toothpaste tube or it will go bad.

   4. A garment worn to cover the torso.

      Antonym: bottom

      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. (baseball) 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.
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, stanza 39:

        Like glauncing light of Phoebus brightest ray;>br>From top to toe no place appeared bare

      • 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, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene ii]:

        All the stored vengeances of Heaven fall / On her ungrateful top!

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. (heading) Someone who is eminent.
   1. (archaic) The chief person; the most prominent one.
      • 1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], OCLC 1044608640:

        to be the top of zealots

   2. 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

      • 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, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:

        And wears upon his baby brow the round / And top of sovereignty.

      • 2011 September 29, Tom Rostance, “Stoke 2-1 Besiktas”, in BBC Sport:

        After drawing their first game in Kiev the Potters are now top of Europa League Group E ahead of back-to-back games with Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

5. (BDSM) A dominant partner in a BDSM relationship or roleplay.

   Synonyms: (usually male) dom, (female) domme

   Antonyms: bottom, sub

6. (gay slang) A man penetrating or with a preference for penetrating during homosexual intercourse.

   I prefer being a top, and my boyfriend prefers being a bottom.

   Synonym: pitcher

   Antonym: bottom

7. (slang, African-American Vernacular, MLE, MTE) Oral stimulation of the male member, a blowjob.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:oral sex

   • 2016 November 18, J $tash (lyrics and music), “Guap”, in No More Distractions‎:

     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 stop

   • 2017, Juice Wrld (lyrics and music), “2017 Freestyle”, in Unreleased Songs‎:

     I get some top in my coupe […]
     Look at yo bitch she gon' choose
     She gon' give me top (on my block Avenue)

   • 2017, T-Wayne (lyrics and music), “Double Standards”, in Forever Rickey, track 2, 0:42–0:55:

     I just bought a new Ferrari off the lot,
     said she a virgin but she wanna give me top,
     she need some money so she call my phone a lot,
     I picked it up and then I told that bitch to stop.

   • 2017 December 22, “No Hook”, performed by 61 – Cee Drilla x Beans x Nz x Ruger, 0:53–1:00:

     Man chingy chingy on opps,
     catch ringy ringy, want lots
     And clingy, clingy, got dots
     She is a bad b, she gives tops

   • 2019 March 19, Nav (lyrics and music), “Price on My Head”, in Bad Habits‎:

     His bitch gave me some top, and now he wanna send me threats

   • 2019 November 20, Oliver Francis (lyrics and music), “I Like”, in The Adventures Of Oliver Francis‎:

     I like gettin' top (Ooh), I like drivin' coupes […]
     Yeah I got Erza Scarlet tryna fuck (Yeah, ooh)
     Gettin' top and watching Crunchyroll

   • 2020 February 21, King Von (lyrics and music), “Took Her to the O”, in Levon James‎:

     Just got some top from this stripper bitch, she from Kankakee

   • 2020 August 7, DON RCS (lyrics and music), “Top Down”‎:

     She asked to give me some top and I’m down
     Head feeling loose ‘cos I’m lit off the brown

   • 2020 September 11, Ron Suno feat. DDG (lyrics and music), “Wraith”‎, chorus first time 0:24–0:27:

     I’m in a wraith with a thot, she gon’ give me some top, cause my music a bop, aye

8. (particle physics) A top quark.

   Hypernym: flavor

9. 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.

10. (ropemaking) 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.
11. (sound) Highest pitch or loudest volume.

    She sang at the top of her voice.

    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

      I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.

12. (wool manufacture) A bundle or ball of slivers of combed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out.
13. (obsolete, except in one sense of phrase on top of) Eve; verge; point.
    • 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, OCLC 837543169:

      Hee was upon the top of his marriage with Magdalaine.

14. The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface[1].
15. (in the plural, slang, dated) Topboots.
    • 1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Macrone, […], OCLC 912950347:

      There was one pair of boots in particular — a jolly, good-tempered, hearty-looking, pair of tops, that excited our warmest regard

16. (golf, cue sports, racquet sports) A stroke on the top of the ball.
17. (golf, cue sports, racquet sports) A forward spin given to the ball by hitting it on or near the top; topspin

    • 1886, E.T.Sachs, The Boys Own Annual: Lawn-Tennis of the Present‎, volume 9, page 778:

      What is wanted is just the reverse - i.e top or overspin, which causes the ball to revolve in the direction in which it is going.

18. (in restaurants, preceded by a number) (A table at which there is, or which has enough seats for) a group of a specified number of people eating at a restaurant.
    • 2014, Jamey Glasnovic, Lost and Found: Adrift in the Canadian Rockies, →ISBN, page 144:

      […] but with only three other tables on the patio apart from myself – two three-tops and a five-top – it's hard to imagine what the holdup is.

    • 2015, Jeff Benjamin, Front of the House: Restaurant Manners, Misbehaviors & Secrets, →ISBN:

      It is uncanny how a server can stand in front of a ten top, without the safety net of pen and paper, and remember every item ordered by each guest including salads, […]

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 excel, to surpass, to beat, to exceed.

   Synonyms: beat, better, best, exceed; see also Thesaurus:exceed

   Titanic was the most successful film ever until it was topped by another Cameron film, Avatar.

   • 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, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:

     Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, / And my invention thrive, Edmund the base / Shall top th' legitimate. I grow; I prosper

   • 2021 October 6, Greg Morse, “A need for speed and the drive for 125”, in RAIL, number 941, page 50:

     The HSDT team, however, had some work to do, although by the end of 1972 the power car interior had been adjusted and BR had agreed to 'double-manning' with extra pay when speeds topped the ton. [exceeded 100 mph]

3. To be in the lead, to be at number one position (of).

   Celine Dion topped the UK music charts twice in the 1990s.

   • 2013, Phil McNulty, "", BBC Sport, 26 December 2013:

     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.

4. 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.

   • 2003, Dan Prendergast, Erin Prendergast, The Tree Doctor: A Guide to Tree Care and Maintenance, →ISBN, page 78:

     Topping depletes the tree of stored energy reserves and reduces the tree's ability to produce energy, as a large percentage of the leaves are removed.

5. (Britain, slang, reflexive) To commit suicide.

   Depression causes many people to top themselves.

6. (Britain, slang, rare) To murder.

   Synonyms: kill, murder, slaughter, slay; see also Thesaurus:kill

7. (BDSM) 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".

8. (gay slang, transitive, intransitive) To anally penetrate in gay sex.
9. (archaic) To rise aloft; to be eminent; to tower.
   • 1713, 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 2313581:

     lofty and topping mountains

   topping passions

   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], OCLC 153628242:

     , Book II, Chapter XXI

     influenced by that topping uneasiness

10. (archaic) To excel; to rise above others.
11. (nautical) To raise one end of (a yard, etc.), making it higher than the other.
12. (dyeing) To cover with another dye.

    to top aniline black with methyl violet to prevent greening

13. To put a stiffening piece or back on (a saw blade).
14. (slang, dated) To arrange (fruit, etc.) with the best on top.
15. (of a horse) To strike the top of (an obstacle) with the hind feet while jumping, so as to gain new impetus.
16. To improve (domestic animals, especially sheep) by crossing certain individuals or breeds with other superior breeds.
17. To cut, break, or otherwise take off the top of (a steel ingot) to remove unsound metal.
18. (golf) To strike (the ball) above the centre; also, to make (a stroke, etc.) by hitting the ball in this way.

• (kill): top oneself
• top the charts
• untopped

top (not comparable)

1. Situated on the top of something.
2. (informal) Best; of the highest quality 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.

   • 2018 July 31, Julia Carrie Wong, “What is QAnon? Explaining the bizarre rightwing conspiracy theory”, in The Guardian‎:

     In a thread called “Calm Before the Storm”, and in subsequent posts, Q established his legend as a government insider with top security clearance who knew the truth about a secret struggle for power involving Donald Trump, the “deep state”, Robert Mueller, the Clintons, pedophile rings, and other stuff.

top (not comparable)

1. Rated first.

   She came top in her French exam.

• first

• topple

• OPT, OPt, OTP, PTO, TPO, oPt, opt, opt., pot

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish طوپ‎ (top).

top m (indefinite plural tope, definite singular topi, definite plural topet)

1. ball
2. (in the plural) slang for testicles

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *top.

• Audio

  (file)

top (definite accusative topu, plural toplar)

1. ball
2. cannon
3. (chess) rook
4. roll (of paper or cloth)
5. pile, stack
6. bale, pack

• topçu (“cannoneer”)
• topuq (“ankle”)
• topalamaq

top

1. fog

top

1. ball
2. lump
3. cannon

• babaytop
• toplaşuv
• topçu
• top qundağı

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎, Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): [ˈtop]

top

1. second-person singular imperative of topit

From Old Norse toppr, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz.

top c (singular definite toppen, plural indefinite toppe)

1. summit, peak
2. hairpiece
3. top (uppermost part, lid, cap, cover, garment worn to cover the torso, child’s spinning toy)

From Middle Dutch top, topp, from Old Dutch *topp, *top, from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz.

• IPA^(key): /tɔp/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: top
• Rhymes: -ɔp

top

1. (colloquial) great, very good

• (prefix): top-

top m (plural toppen, diminutive topje n)

1. top (uppermost part)
2. (figurative) apex
3. summit, peak (high point of a mountain or object)
4. summit, highest-level assembly
5. dominant role or partner in BDSM-interaction
6. top (piece of women's clothing)

• bodem

• bergtop
• subtop
• toppunt
• vingertop

• Negerhollands: top

top

1. (denominal) first-person singular present indicative of toppen

• pot

Borrowed from English top.

• IPA^(key): /tɔp/

• Audio

  (file)

top m (plural tops)

1. top; shirt or garment covering the upper body
2. a signalling sound; beep

top (feminine toppe, masculine plural tops, feminine plural toppes)

1. top; best; highest in rank; maximum
2. excellent; brilliant
3. (LGBT, slang) top (dominant in role)

   Synonym: actif

• bottom

top

1. at most; maximum

• “top”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): /tɔp/

• Audio

  (file)

Borrowed from English top.

top (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) top (of the highest quality or rank)

   hopp oder top ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 2022 June 8, quoting Niclas Hildebrand, “Müller/Tillmanns Aufstieg: Bei WM hoch gehandelt”, in Süddeutsche Zeitung‎:

     “Cinja ist in einer top athletischen Verfassung. Das gilt auch für Svenja”, sagt er.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

top

1. Alternative form of topp

• “top” in Duden online
• “top” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Borrowed from English top.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔp/
• Rhymes: -ɔp
• Hyphenation: tòp

top m (invariable)

1. (woman's dressing, garment) top

top

1. 3rd person singular present indicative form of tapt
2. 3rd person plural present indicative form of tapt
3. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of tapt
4. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of tapt

• toppe, topp, tope, toop

From Old English topp, toppa, from Proto-West Germanic *topp.

• IPA^(key): /tɔp/, /tɔːp/

top (plural toppes)

1. The summit or top of something, especially a vertical object:
   1. The peak of a mountain or other landform.
   2. The roof or ceil of a house; the top of a fence.
   3. A lid or cap; a removable top or topping.
   4. The head, especially its top or the hair on its top.
2. A small deck at the dop of a ship's sails.
3. A cluster or bunch of fibres; a tassel.
4. A top or whirligig (spinning toy)
5. The start or introduction of something.
6. (rare) The tip or end of something; that which something terminates in.

• toppen
• toppyng

• English: top
  • → French: top
  • → German: Top
  • → Vietnamese: tốp
• Scots: tap

• “top, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-08-12.
• “top, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-08-12.

top

1. very

• Hofling, Charles Andrew (2011). Mopan Maya–Spanish–English Dictionary, University of Utah Press.

From Turkish top, from Ottoman Turkish طوپ‎ (top).

top f

1. ball (object, generally spherical, used for playing games)
2. cannon

• tup, tupe, tope, toup

From Frankish *topp.

top m (oblique plural tos, nominative singular tos, nominative plural top)

1. hair on top of one's head, forelock
2. top, highest point
3. tuft of flax placed on distaff
4. top (ship)

• → Galician: tope
• → Spanish: tope
• → Portuguese: topo
• ⇒ Old French: toupet
  • → Old Portuguese: topete
    • Galician: topete
    • Portuguese: topete
  • Middle French: toupet
    • French: toupet (see there for further descendants)
  • Norman: toupet, tupé
  • → Middle English: topet
• ⇒? Old French: topoie, toupie, tourpe, tourpie
  • Middle French: toupie
    • French: toupie

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (top)
• tup on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

• IPA^(key): /tɔp/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔp
• Syllabification: top

Borrowed from English top, from Middle English top, toppe, from Old English top (“top, highest part; summit”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp.

top m inan

1. (sailing) top (the upper end of a mast)
2. top (garment worn to cover the torso)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

top

1. second-person singular imperative of topić

• top in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• top in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Unadapted borrowing from English top.

• Homophone: tope

top (invariable)

1. (slang) cool, awesome
2. (slang) top, excellent, high-quality

   Synonym: top de linha

• topzeira

top m (plural tops)

1. top (garment worn to cover the torso)

• IPA^(key): /ˈtop/
• Rhymes: -op

Borrowed from Turkish top.

top n (plural topuri)

1. ream (of paper)
2. cotton pack

Borrowed from English top.

top n (plural topuri)

1. top list, chart, ranking
2. top (garment worn to cover the torso)

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish طوپ‎ (top).

• IPA^(key): /tôp/

tȍp m (Cyrillic spelling то̏п)

1. cannon
2. (chess) rook

From Proto-Slavic *tǫpъ.

• IPA^(key): /tɔ́p/

tȍp (comparative bȍlj tȍp, superlative nȁjbolj tȍp)

1. blunt

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish طوپ‎ (top).

• IPA^(key): /tɔ́p/

tȍp m inan

1. cannon

• “top”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Borrowed from English top.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtop/ [ˈt̪op]
• Rhymes: -op
• Syllabification: top

top m (plural tops)

1. top (first positions of a ranking)
2. top (female clothing)

• ir en top

top (plural tops)

1. (proscribed) top (situated on the top of something)

   Synonym: mejor

2. (proscribed) top (best; of the highest quality or rank)

   Synonym: el mejor

3. (proscribed) top (very good, of high quality)

   Synonym: muy bueno

• “top” in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas, primera edición, Real Academia Española, 2005.

• “top”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Compare Tocharian B taupe.

top

1. mine (place where ore is extracted)

From Ottoman Turkish طوپ‎ (top), from Proto-Turkic *top (“round thing”).

top (definite accusative topu, plural toplar)

1. ball
2. cannon
3. (slang, derogatory) gay