[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

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 zool., 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
see also:
tuft top and but top minnow gambusia patruelis from top to toe 

All But >> A Words
All But, definition of term: All But
all+but_pag1.html