{From top to toe}, from head to foot; altogether.
2. To put a stiffening piece or back on (a saw blade).
3. To arrange, as fruit, with the best on top. [Cant]
4. To strike the top of, as a wall, with the hind feet, in
jumping, so as to gain new impetus; -- said of a horse.
5. To improve (domestic animals, esp. sheep) by crossing
certain individuals or breeds with other superior.
6. (Naut.) To raise one end of, as a yard, so that that end
becomes higher than the other.
7. To cut, break, or otherwise take off the top of (a steel
ingot) to remove unsound metal.
8. (Golf) To strike (the ball) above the center; also, to
make (as a stroke) by hitting the ball in this way.
2. (Naut.) To rise at one end, as a yard; -- usually with up.
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 his baby 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. [R.] ``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. [Slang] --Dickens.
Note: 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} (Zo["o]l.), a small viviparous fresh-water fish
({Gambusia patruelis}) abundant in the Southern United
States. Also applied to other similar species.
2. (Rope Making) A plug, or conical block of wood, with
longitudital grooves on its surface, in which the strands
of the rope slide in the process of twisting.
2. To predominate; as, topping passions. ``Influenced by
topping uneasiness.'' --Locke.
3. To excel; to rise above others.
But write thy, and top. --Dryden.
Like moving mountains topped with snow. --Waller.
A mount Of alabaster, topped with golden spires.
--Milton.
2. To rise above; to excel; to outgo; to surpass.
Topping all others in boasting. --Shak.
Edmund the base shall top the legitimate. --Shak.
3. To rise to the top of; to go over the top of.
But wind about till thou hast topped the hill.
--Denham.
4. To take off the or upper part of; to crop.
Top your rose trees a little with your knife.
--Evelyn.
5. To perform eminently, or better than before.
From endeavoring universally to top their parts,
they will go universally beyond them. --Jeffrey.
6. (Naut.) To raise one end of, as a yard, so that that end
becomes higher than the other.
{To top off}, to complete by putting on, or finishing, the
top or uppermost part of; as, to top off a stack of hay;
hence, to complete; to finish; to adorn.