Definition of top verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary



    BrE BrE//tɒp//
    ; NAmE NAmE//tɑːp//
    Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they top
    BrE BrE//tɒp//
    ; NAmE NAmE//tɑːp//
    he / she / it tops
    BrE BrE//tɒps//
    ; NAmE NAmE//tɑːps//
    past simple topped
    BrE BrE//tɒpt//
    ; NAmE NAmE//tɑːpt//
    past participle topped
    BrE BrE//tɒpt//
    ; NAmE NAmE//tɑːpt//
    -ing form topping
    BrE BrE//ˈtɒpɪŋ//
    ; NAmE NAmE//ˈtɑːpɪŋ//
    jump to other results
    be more
  1. 1top something to be higher than a particular amount Worldwide sales look set to top $1 billion.
  2. be the best
  3. 2top something to be in the highest position on a list because you are the most successful, important, etc. The band topped the charts for five weeks with their first single.
  4. put on top
  5. 3[usually passive] top something (with something) to put something on the top of something else fruit salad topped with cream The chapel was topped by a dome of white marble.
  6. say/do something better
  7. 4top something to say or do something that is better, funnier, more impressive, etc. than something that somebody else has said or done in the past I'm afraid the other company has topped your offer (= offered more money). He has a house in five European capitals—how do you top that?
  8. kill yourself
  9. 5top yourself (British English, informal) to kill yourself deliberately
  10. climb hill
  11. 6top something (literary) to reach the highest point of a hill, etc.
  12. Word Originverb late Old English topp (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch top ‘summit, crest’.Extra examples Sales of the book have now topped the six million mark. Worldwide sales look set to top $1 billion. I’m afraid that the other company has topped your offer. It was a wonderful performance, and I challenge anyone to top that. Topping all the others by far, the award went to one of Hollywood’s most respected actors.Idioms (British English) to cut the top and bottom parts off fruit and vegetables to prepare them to be cooked or eaten More Like This Alliteration in idioms belt and braces, black and blue, born and bred, chalk and cheese, chop and change, done and dusted, down and dirty, in dribs and drabs, eat somebody out of house and home, facts and figures, fast and furious, first and foremost, forgive and forget, hale and hearty, hem and haw, kith and kin, mix and match, part and parcel, puff and pant, to rack and ruin, rant and rave, risk life and limb, short and sweet, signed and sealed, spic and span, through thick and thin, this and that, top and tail, tried and tested, wax and waneSee worksheet. (informal) used to introduce the final piece of information that is worse than the other bad things that you have just mentioned And then, to top it all, it started to rain! Phrasal Verbstop somethingoff (with something)top out (at something)top somethinguptop somebody up
See the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary entry: top