| top | 1. To cover on the top; to tip; to cap; chiefly used in the past participle. "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. 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. 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. 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. Origin: CF. OD. Dop, top, OHG, MNG, & dial. G. Topf; perhaps akin to G. Topf a pot. 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" "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. 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. 8. A bundle or ball of slivers of comkbed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out. 9. Eve; verge; point. "He was upon the top of his marriage with Magdaleine." 10. The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface. 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, 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. <zoology> Top minnow, a small viviparous fresh water fish (Gambusia patruelis) abundant in the Southern United States. Also applied to other similar species. Origin: 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| top-shaped | <botany> Having the shape of a top; cone-shaped, with the apex downward; turbinate. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| top-shell | <zoology> Any one of numerous species of marine top_shaped shells of the genus Thochus, or family Trochidae. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| turban-top | <botany> A kind of fungus with an irregularly wrinkled, somewhat globular pileus (Helvella, or Gyromitra, esculenta). Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| flat top waves | Activity in the electroencephalogram having a pattern suggesting a flat top; these wave's are often found in temporal lobe discharges. (05 Mar 2000) |
| runner's condition | <orthopaedics> A condition where the knee cap (patella) rubs on the surface of the femur rather than following its normal tracking over the knee joint. This condition is brought about by stress or overuse (for example runners). Running on hills or incline surfaces can exacerbate this problem. Symptoms include knee pain, just under the knee cap after running, progressing to knee pain at rest. Treatment includes rest and stretching exercises for the quadriceps and hamstring muscles. Strengthening the medial (inner) head of the quadriceps (along the inner thigh) will help pull the knee cap medially and correct the problem. (17 Dec 1997) |
| condition | A mode or state of being, the state of being fit: the physical status of the body as a whole or of one of its parts usually used to indicate abnormality. (18 Nov 1997) |
| sine condition | <microscopy> The design of a lens must fulfill this condition, described by Abbe, if the image is to be aplanatic. It states that the ratio of the sines of the angles of the incident and refracted rays to the axis must be constant, this constant is equal to the inverse of the magnification of the image. (05 Aug 1998) |
| stoichiometric condition | That condition at which the proportion of the air-to-fuel is such that all combustible products will be completely burned with no oxygen remaining in the combustion air. (05 Dec 1998) |
| desired future condition | A vision of the desired future state of a specific area. A description of land and resource conditions expected to result if management goals and objectives are achieved. (05 Dec 1998) |
| disturbed condition | <ecology> Refers to areas in which indicators of one or more characteristics (vegetation, soil and/or hydrology) have been sufficiently altered by man's activities or natural events so as to make it more difficult to recognise whether or not the wetland identification criteria are met. (11 Jan 1998) |
| fibrocystic condition of the breast | A benign disease common in women of the third, fourth, and fifth decades characterised by formation, in one or both breasts, of small cysts containing fluid which may appear as blue dome cysts; associated with stromal fibrosis and with variable degrees of intraductal epithelial hyperplasia and sclerosing adenosis. Synonym: cystic hyperplasia of the breast. (05 Mar 2000) |