Top (?), 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.
The star that bids the shepherd fold,
Now the top of heaven doth hold. Milton.
2. The utmost degree; the acme; the summit.
The top of my ambition is to contribute to that work. Pope.
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.
And wears upon hisbaby brow the round
And top of sovereignty. Shak.
4. The chief person; the most prominent one.
Other... aspired to be the top of zealots. Milton.
5. The crown of the head, or the hair upon it; the head. “From top to toe” Spenser.
All the stored vengeance of Heaven fall
On her ungrateful top! Shak.
6. The head, or upper part, of a plant.
The buds... are called heads, or tops, as cabbageheads. I. Watts.
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.
8. (Wool Manuf.) A bundle or ball of slivers of comkbed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out.
9. Eve; verge; point. “He was upon the top of his marriage with Magdaleine.” Knolles.
10. The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface. Knight.
11. pl. Top-boots. Dickens.
☞ 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.
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(Zoöl.), a small viviparous fresh-water fish (Gambusia patruelis) abundant in the Southern United States. Also applied to other similar species.