top

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The highest part or surface of something.

   Put your books on top of the desk.

2. 2
   noun

   The highest point of a hill or mountain.

   After hiking all day, we reached the top.

3. 3
   noun

   A piece of clothing worn on the upper body.

   She wore a blue top with white jeans.

4. 4
   noun

   A cover or lid for a container or hole.

   He couldn't get the top off the jar.

5. 5
   verb

   To add a finishing touch or be more than something else.

   They topped off their dinner with coffee and cake.

Common collocations

• spinning top Adjective + noun
• top floor Adjective + noun
• big top Adjective + noun
• top pick Adjective + noun
• top speed Adjective + noun

From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English topp (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin. Compare typologically Latin apex (<< Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, attach, fasten, fit”)). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), Cimbrian sòpf (“braid”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), German Topp (“top of a mast”), Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Luxembourgish Zapp (“plait, tress”), Vila…

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