Top and but

Top 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. [1913 Webster]

The star that bids the shepherd fold, Now the top of heaven doth hold. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

2. The utmost degree; the acme; the summit. [1913 Webster]

The top of my ambition is to contribute to that work. --Pope. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

And wears upon his baby brow the round And top of sovereignty. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

4. The chief person; the most prominent one. [1913 Webster]

Other . . . aspired to be the top of zealots. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

5. The crown of the head, or the hair upon it; the head. ``From top to toe'' --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

All the stored vengeance of Heaven fall On her ungrateful top ! --Shak. [1913 Webster]

6. The head, or upper part, of a plant. [1913 Webster]

The buds . . . are called heads, or tops, as cabbageheads. --I. Watts. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

8. (Wool Manuf.) A bundle or ball of slivers of comkbed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out. [1913 Webster]

9. Eve; verge; point. [R.] ``He was upon the top of his marriage with Magdaleine.'' --Knolles. [1913 Webster]

10. The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface. --Knight. [1913 Webster]

11. pl. Top-boots. [Slang] --Dickens. [1913 Webster]

12. (Golf) (a) A stroke on the top of the ball. (b) A forward spin given to the ball by hitting it on or near the top. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

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. [1913 Webster]

{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.

{From top to toe}, from head to foot; altogether. [1913 Webster]