1. A child's toy, commonly in the form of a conoid or pear, made to spin on its point, usually by drawing off a string wound round its surface or stem, the motion being sometimes continued by means of a whip.
2. (Rope Making)
Defn: 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.
TOP Top, n. Etym: [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.