topping

SayTOP-ingUS/ˈtɑpɪŋ/UK/ˈtɒpɪŋ/

Pluraltoppings

8 meanings of topping

Practice

1
nouncountable or uncountable
Food you put on top of another food to add flavor or make it look nice.
Like a hat that sits on top of your food to make it nicer.
He sprinkled a chocolate topping over the cake.
Kids love choosing their own toppings for the sundaes.
Similargarnish
2
verb
Present participle of top. Use this form for something happening right now.
She is topping the cake with fresh berries.
He kept topping each cupcake with a bright red cherry.
Note
3
noununcountable
Cutting off the top part of something, such as a plant or tree.
Like giving a plant a haircut on top.
The topping of the hedge gave it a neat, flat shape.
Regular topping keeps the young plant from growing too tall.
Similarpruning, lopping
4
nouncountable or uncountable
Raising one end of a ship's long pole higher than the other end.
Like tilting one end of a seesaw up while the other stays low.
The topping of the boom let the crew clear the deck.
A careful topping raised one end of the heavy pole.
Note
5
nouncountable
One of the ropes that hold up the ends of a ship's pole.
Like the rope that holds up one end of a clothesline.
The sailor tightened the topping to hold the boom up.
A frayed topping could let the heavy pole drop suddenly.
Note
6
nouncountable
The tail part of a fake fly used in fishing.
Like the little tail trailing from a kite, but on a fishing fly.
He tied a bright topping onto the fishing fly.
The topping on the lure looked just like an insect's tail.
Note

Less common meanings

7
adjectivedatedUK
Very good or excellent.
We had a topping day out at the fair.
'Well,' he said, settling back in the seat directly opposite. 'It's a topping day.'
1953, Roald Dahl, Galloping FoxleyHere, topping means wonderful or excellent.
Similarexcellent, awesome, brilliant, cool, exceptional
Oppositeawful, dreadful, rotten
Note
8
adjectivearchaic
Acting proudly as if you are better than other people.
He spoke in a topping way to all the servants.
Her topping manner annoyed the other guests.
Note

topping is a form of top

top, verb: To put something over the upper part of a thing, like a lid or layer. Full entry

Forms: toptops he/she/ittopping -ing formtopped past tense, past participle
Spelling: top → topping: double the p, add -ing

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of topping apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From an older English word toppyng, made from top plus -ing.