topping

Pluraltoppings

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Any edible item placed on top of another to add flavor, texture, or decoration.

   The pizza arrived loaded with every topping the menu offered.

   A crunchy topping of toasted nuts finished the dessert.

   Similargarnish

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of top.

   The chef is topping each plate with a drizzle of sauce.

   Crews are topping the trees to keep them clear of the power lines.

   Note

   The -ing form carries every sense of the verb top: covering a dish, beating a rival, leading a chart, cutting back a tree. With an article and of, it becomes a noun, so topping the oaks is a verb phrase and the topping of the oaks is the act of cutting. In British slang, the reflexive topping oneself means committing suicide, so the object matters.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The act of cutting off the upper part of something.

   The topping of the fruit trees encouraged bushier growth the next spring.

   Residents criticized the heavy topping of the old oaks along the avenue.

   Similarpruning, lopping

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   An operation in which one end of a ship's spar is lifted above the other.

   The topping of the spar was needed before the cargo could be loaded.

   The crew handled the topping of the boom with the lift tackle.

   Note

   On deck, the work is tilting a spar out of the level, so that one end rises while the other stays put. The gear that does the lifting shares the name, as the supporting cable, so "the topping" can mean either the job or the line. A following of usually marks the action, as in the topping of the boom.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   On a ship, one of the two cables by which the ends of a spar or boom are held up.

   She checked the topping before the boom was raised.

   The topping snapped under the strain of the sudden gale.

   Note

   Rigging rather than motion: here the word names a piece of gear, the line that holds up a spar's end. Sailors also call it a topping lift, and the fuller phrase avoids confusion with the act of tilting a spar. It counts like any piece of equipment, so there is a topping at each end and the toppings together.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   The tail of an artificial fly used in fishing.

   She trimmed the topping so the fly would sit correctly on the water.

   A golden pheasant feather formed the topping of the salmon fly.

   Note

   In fly tying, the word names a part of the fly, not something added on. It is the tail dressing at the rear, often a few fibers or a crest feather reaching past the bend of the hook. Tiers trim it so the fly sits right on the water. In a tying pattern, "the topping" therefore means a tail, not anything like the pizza sense.

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