Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TOP, v.t.

1. To cover on the top; to tip; to cap. A mount / Of alabaster, topp'd with golden spires. Milton. Mountains topp'd with snow. Waller.
2. To rise above. A gourd – climbing by the boughs twined about them, till it topp'd and covered the tree. L'Estrange. Topping all others in boasting. Shak.
3. To outgo; to surpass.
4. To crop; to take off the top or upper part. Top your rose-trees a little with your knife near a leaf-bud. Evelyn. So in America we say, to top corn, that is maiz, by cutting off the stalk just above the ear.
5. To rise to the top of; as, he topped the hill. Denham.
6. To perform eminently. [Not in use.]