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Synonyms

top billing

American  

noun

Theater.
  1. the first or most prominent position in a list of actors or entertainers, as on a marquee or screen.


Etymology

Origin of top billing

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Though Jason and his Argonauts get top billing in the 1963 B-movie classic, it’s Ray Harryhausen’s sword-wielding troop of the undead that steal the show.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026

But even amid so much star quality, Lionel Messi still took top billing.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

I may be wrong about this, I didn’t have a stopwatch, but Ms. Hynes does receive top billing over Ms. Purvis in each episode’s opening credits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

So even though SpaceX gets top billing, Anthropic and OpenAI have fans, too.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

Dane tried to visualize a scene in which he shared top billing with Queex and shuddered.

From Plague Ship by Andre Norton

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