top-dress
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of top-dress
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:
Return anything too chunky to the bin, and top-dress your plants indoors or out with the good stuff.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
The accumulation of the winter is usually applied to the land for the corn crop, except the finer portion, which is used to top-dress meadow land.
From Peat and its Uses as Fertilizer and Fuel by Samuel W. (Samuel William) Johnson
First he tells me to top-dress the upper lot, and then right off he wants me to harness up and go to the mill.
From A Princess in Calico by Edith Ferguson Black
A deep moist loam suits them best; and as the plants grow and bloom, add bone meal and top-dress with manure.
From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by L. H. (Liberty Hyde) Bailey
Would it be good policy to use the manure, or would it be more satisfactory to top-dress with gypsum?
From One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered by Edward J. (Edward James) Wickson
We've top-dressed both several times, so balls should roll onto the greens.
From Golf Digest ● Aug. 2, 2012
To insure an extra yield of this valuable grain, the soil must be highly manured, deeply ploughed, thorough cultivated and hoed, and top-dressed with lime, house ashes, and plaster.
Trees in pots to be shifted, or top-dressed, as may be necessary.
From In-Door Gardening for Every Week in the Year Showing the Most Successful Treatment for all Plants Cultivated in the Greenhouse, Conservatory, Stove, Pit, Orchid, and Forcing-house by William Keane
Before winter sets in see that the lawn is freely top-dressed.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various
When a piece of land is to be planted in sweet potatoes, it should be top-dressed with some manure, to be dug or ploughed under a week or two before it is to be planted.
I prefer to use compost as a top-dressing mulch since that doubles as a fertilizer and soil-health enhancer, but you could also use a 5-10-5 fertilizer sparingly.
From Salon ● May 18, 2022
A thin top-dressing is all that is needed, assuming you mulched this spring.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 13, 2021
When it’s rotted down and mature, you’ll have a material perfect for use as a potting mix or as a top-dressing for the garden.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2015
Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is also popular for top-dressing pastures at midsummer since it evaporates more slowly than some competitors.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2013
A very specialist crowd, this; and what they are ignorant of in the way of swedes and turnips, oil-cake, corn, or top-dressing, is scarce worth the acquiring.
From The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries To-Day and in Days of Old by Charles G. (Charles George) Harper
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
