top

Less common meanings

10. 10
    nouncountable or uncountable

    A lid, cap, or cover that fits over the opening of a container.

    The marker dried out because someone left the top off.

    Make sure the top is on tight before you put the shampoo in your bag.

    Similarcap, cover, lid

11. 11
    spinning toynouncountable or uncountable

    A child's toy that spins on a pointed base when set in motion.

    The children laughed as the brightly painted top wobbled and fell.

    She wound the string around the top before launching it.

    UsageOften called a spinning top; you spin a top.

    Note

    The toy is old in English, perhaps older than it looks. Old English topp may already have named a spinning top and a ball, alongside a tuft or crest, so this sense need not be a late metaphor drawn from the "uppermost part" sense. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Old English topp also meant a tuft or crest. bosworthtoller.com
12. 12
    baseballnouncountable or uncountable

    In baseball, the opening half of an inning, when the visiting team is at bat and the home team is in the field.

    The away side loaded the bases in the top of the seventh.

    Rain delayed the game during the top of the second.

    UsageUsually with an ordinal: the top of the seventh.

    Oppositebottom

    Note

    Baseball splits every inning into two halves, and this one comes first. The visitors bat in the top and the home side in the bottom, so the home team bats last whenever it needs to and knows the score it must beat. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • An inning consists of two halves, with the top first and the bottom second. en.wikipedia.org
    • The visiting team bats in the top half. en.wiktionary.org
    • The home team bats in the bottom half. en.wikipedia.org
13. 13
    voice limitnouncountable or uncountable

    The highest pitch or loudest volume that a voice or instrument can reach.

    The children screamed at the top of their lungs.

    The soprano reached the very top of her register in the final aria.

    UsageMostly in at the top of your voice or lungs, meaning very loudly.

    Oppositebottom

    Note

    Voices and lungs have tops too, and the idiom built on this sense is fixed: at the top of one's voice, at the top of one's lungs. In Joseph C. Lincoln's Mr. Pratt's Patients (1913), the narrator whoops "Ahoy!" "at the top of my lungs." The idiom means loudness. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Joseph C. Lincoln wrote Mr. Pratt's Patients. upload.wikimedia.org
    • Mr. Pratt's Patients was first published in 1913, as confirmed by the original title page and Open Library's publication history. openlibrary.org
    • The narrator whoops 'Ahoy!' at the top of his lungs; both quoted expressions occur in the passage. upload.wikimedia.org
14. 14
    active partnernounslangcountable or uncountable

    A person who penetrates, or prefers to penetrate, during intercourse.

    Being a top doesn't make him the dominant partner; in bed he's actually rather shy.

    The two of them were both tops, which made things tricky.

    Oppositebottom

    Note

    LGBTQ slang for a sexual role and, just as often, a standing preference: I prefer being a top, and my boyfriend prefers being a bottom. The plural comes easily, as when Paul Mendez's Rainbow Milk (2020) calls a character "quite a handful for his tops." Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Paul Mendez wrote Rainbow Milk, first published in 2020. en.wikipedia.org
    • The novel describes a character as "quite a handful for his tops." en.wiktionary.org
15. 15
    verbslangtransitive or intransitive

    To take the insertive, penetrating role during intercourse.

    He topped his partner after they talked about what each wanted.

    Some men only top and never reverse roles.

    Oppositebottom

    Note

    Unlike the BDSM verb, this one concerns the physical act, and it works both ways grammatically.

16. 16
    street endnouncountable or uncountable

    In British use, the end of a street, garden, table or room regarded as its head, which varies with the place and the speaker.

    They live at the top of the lane, just past the church.

    Walk up to the top of the street and turn left at the post office.

    UsageUsually at the top of: they live at the top of the lane.

    Similarhead, end

    Oppositebottom

    Note

    Height plays no part here. The top of a street or a garden is the end people treat as its head, so a perfectly flat lane still has one, though which end that is varies. Directions such as the shop at the top of my street can depend on local convention or on the speaker's viewpoint. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The expression can refer to a conventionally identified end or the higher end of a sloping street, rather than necessarily changing with the speaker's position. en.wikipedia.org
17. 17
    be tallerverbtransitive

    To rise above something else in height; to be taller than it.

    The redwood tops all the surrounding trees.

    These skyscrapers top everything else on the skyline.

    UsageUse by for the margin: he topped them by a head.

    Similarexceed, surpass, dwarf

    Note

    In E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros (1922), the sixth man, "huge as a neat, topped them by half a head." Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • E. R. Eddison wrote The Worm Ouroboros. en.wikisource.org
    • The Worm Ouroboros was first published in 1922. en.wikisource.org
    • The quoted wording occurs in the novel's narration. en.wikisource.org
18. 18
    lead partner (BDSM)nouncountable or uncountable

    In BDSM or sexual roleplay, the partner who carries out the activity on the other, often but not always the dominant one.

    The top checked in often to make sure her partner felt safe.

    Experienced tops learn to read their partner's limits carefully.

    Oppositebottom

    Note

    Within BDSM the word names a role: the partner who leads the scene. Noun and verb grow up together. A 1981 interview in Gay Community News moves from "the idea of topping" to "playing top almost all the time," with no article, the way one plays a part. The partner term is bottom, as in the phrase built on the verb, topping from the bottom. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The cited interview was published in 1981. law.uh.edu
    • The cited passage contains both quoted expressions, demonstrating noun and verb together by 1981. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    verbintransitive

    In BDSM or sexual roleplay, to be the partner who carries out the activity on the other, often but not always as the dominant one.

    In the kink community, some people top exclusively and never switch roles.

    He has topped at the local BDSM club for years and now mentors newcomers.

    Similardominate

    Oppositebottom, submit

    Note

    Its best-known phrase is topping from the bottom, in which the receiving partner tries to steer a session the dominant partner is meant to run. It describes what a person does rather than a fixed identity, so a former slave can end up topping. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Topping from the bottom means the receiving partner tries to direct a session intended to be controlled by the top or dominant. en.wikipedia.org
    • A person's BDSM role can change, allowing someone previously submissive to top. en.wikipedia.org
20. 20
    forward spinnouncountable or uncountable

    Forward spin on a moving ball, making it rotate in the direction it is traveling; topspin.

    He hit the cue ball with top so it would follow the object ball.

    Her forehand has so much top that it dips right at the baseline.

    UsageUsed without an article: put top on the ball.

    Oppositebackspin

    Note

    E.T. Sachs, writing on lawn tennis in The Boy's Own Annual for 1886-87, glosses it as "top or overspin, which causes the ball to revolve in the direction in which it is going." In cue sports a player gets it by striking above the ball's center; in tennis and table tennis it comes from an upward, forward swing. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • In cue sports, striking above the cue ball's center produces topspin. basicbilliards.com
    • An upward, forward tennis swing produces topspin. usta.com
    • An upward, forward table-tennis swing produces topspin. tabletenniscoach.me.uk
21. 21
    chestadjective

    Relating to the chest or breasts, especially in the context of gender-affirming surgery.

    Top surgery reshapes the chest as part of a person's transition.

    The clinic's waiting list for top surgery stretched to almost a year.

    UsageMostly in top surgery.

    Note

    A word from transgender usage that lives almost entirely inside one compound: top surgery, meaning surgery on the chest. Outside that compound, readers would take the word to mean "upper" or "best," so the setting does most of the work. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The chest-related sense belongs to transgender terminology. en.wiktionary.org
    • Top surgery refers to surgery on the chest. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    lop offverbtransitive

    To cut off or remove the top of something, such as a tree.

    Crews will top the dead pines along the road before taking them down.

    Arborists warn that topping a mature tree leaves it weak and stressed.

    UsageIn cooking, top and tail means cut off both ends: top and tail the beans.

    Similarlop

    Note

    Arborists use topping for cutting back a tree's crown, and they generally warn against it because losing so many leaves drains the tree's stored energy. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Tree topping involves cutting back branches in the crown. treesaregood.org
    • Arborists generally advise against topping. treesaregood.org
    • Losing leaves through topping forces the tree to draw on stored energy to replace them. treesaregood.org
23. 23
    kill oneselfverbslangBritishreflexivetransitive

    To kill oneself; to commit suicide.

    After the business collapsed, he tried to top himself.

    They worried he would top himself if no one stepped in.

    UsageUsed as top himself, top yourself. It sounds blunt and casual; for serious writing, die by suicide is the careful choice.

    Similarkill

24. 24
    kill someoneverbslangBritishtransitive

    To kill someone, whether by murder or by execution.

    That lot would top you as soon as look at you.

    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

    Similarkill, murder, slay, execute, slaughter

    Note

    In Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor, a prisoner who was topped had been hanged, a use that now sounds historical. The wider sense of killing someone survives in casual British speech, as does top oneself, for suicide. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Henry Mayhew wrote London Labour and the London Poor. gutenberg.org
    • The book uses ‘topped’ to mean ‘hanged’, referring to a condemned prisoner. gutenberg.org
25. 25
    car roofnouncountable

    A car's roof, chiefly the roof of a convertible that can be folded back or removed.

    The convertible's canvas top had faded after years in the desert sun.

    On the first warm day of spring, the highway filled with drivers cruising with their tops down.

    UsageOn an ordinary car, say roof; top is mostly for convertibles: drive with the top down.

    Similarroof

    Note

    Convertible owners drive with the top down or the top up, and top down has become shorthand for open-air driving. The material names the kind: a soft top folds and is usually fabric, a hardtop is rigid. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A soft top folds and is usually made of fabric. en.wikipedia.org
    • A hardtop is rigid. en.wikipedia.org
26. 26
    adjective

    Being the maximum possible in amount, level, or degree.

    The new electric model has a top speed of 155 miles per hour.

    The heater was on its top setting, and the room was still cold.

    UsageComes before the noun: top speed, top volume, top dollar.

    Similarmaximum, highest, peak

    Oppositeminimum, lowest

27. 27
    leafy partnouncountable

    The leaves and stalks that grow above the soil on root or bulb crops such as carrots, beets, turnips, and onions.

    Grab each carrot by its feathery top and pull gently to lift it from the soil.

    She sautéed the turnip tops with garlic and served them as a side dish.

    UsageUsually plural: carrot tops, turnip tops.

    Similargreens, leaves

28. 28
    verbtransitive

    In golf, to strike the ball above its middle, or to play a shot by hitting the ball there.

    Nervous on the first tee, she topped her drive, and it skidded into the pond.

    Even tour professionals occasionally top a ball when the lie is awkward.

    Note

    Golfers use it for a mis-hit: the bottom edge of the club catches the upper half of the ball, which skids or bounces along the ground instead of rising and usually stops well short. It can produce topspin, the forward rotation of the ball, but on a golf course the result is almost always a fault rather than a choice. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • A topped golf shot results from the bottom of the club striking the upper half of the ball, producing a low, bouncing shot. pdf.pgalinks.com
    • A topped shot usually finishes well short of its intended target. en.wikipedia.org
    • Topspin is forward rotation of the ball, not a particular contact point. In tennis, it is generated by brushing upwards with a low-to-high swing. usta.com
    • Topspin from a topped golf shot is nearly always undesirable. en.wikipedia.org
29. 29
    noun

    A party of a specified number of restaurant diners, or the table seating them.
30. 30
    noun

    The peak price a security reaches during a trading period, just before it begins to decline.
31. 31
    noun

    An elementary particle of the quark family, the heaviest of the six known quarks; the top quark.
32. 32
    noundialectalMulticultural London English

    Oral sex in which a partner's penis is stimulated with the mouth.
33. 33
    noun

    A platform at the head of a lower mast on a sailing ship, used to spread and secure the rigging.
34. 34
    nounarchaic

    The highest part of a person's skull, or the hair covering it, and by extension the whole head.

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

    c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”
35. 35
    nounarchaic

    The leading or most important person in a group.

    to be the top of zealots

    1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs]
36. 36
    noun

    A grooved cone of wood that the strands of a rope run along as they are twisted together.
37. 37
    noun

    A loose rope of combed wool fibers, cleaned of short fibers and dirt and ready for spinning.
38. 38
    nounobsolete

    The brink or point of something about to happen.

    Hee was upon the top of his marriage with Magdalaine.

    1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes
39. 39
    noun

    On a faceted gemstone, the sloping area that runs from the widest rim up to the flat upper face, also called the crown.
40. 40
    noundated

    Riding boots with tall uppers, often trimmed in a contrasting color. Usually in the plural.

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

    1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life
41. 41
    noun

    A shot that strikes the ball above its center, as in golf or billiards.
42. 42
    noun

    The first swarm of bees to leave a hive in a season, short for a longer compound.
43. 43
    noun

    A nickname for the highest-ranking enlisted Marine in a company, who holds the rank of first or master sergeant.
44. 44
    nounPhilippines

    A young leafy shoot of a plant, such as a turnip, eaten as a vegetable. Usually in the plural.
45. 45
    verbarchaic

    To rise high or tower over the surroundings.

    lofty and topping mountains

    1713, W[illiam] Derham, Physico-Theology
46. 46
    verb

    To tilt a yard or boom by raising one end above the other.
47. 47
    verb

    To dye cloth a second time with another color over the first.
48. 48
    verb

    To fit a saw blade with a stiffening strip or back.
49. 49
    verbdated

    To pack fruit or other produce so the best pieces sit uppermost and catch the eye.
50. 50
    verb

    Of a horse jumping, to strike the upper edge of a fence with its hind feet to push off for extra lift.
51. 51
    verb

    To improve livestock, especially sheep, by mating them with animals of a better breed.
52. 52
    verb

    To remove the upper end of an ingot of steel by cutting or breaking it off, to get rid of faulty metal.
53. 53
    interjectionobsolete

    A call once used among tailors and seamstresses when the candle needed snuffing, the last to say it having to do the job.