big top

American  

noun

1. the largest or main tent of a circus.

2. a circus.

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big top British  

noun

1. the main tent of a circus

2. the circus itself

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big top Idioms  

1. The main tent of a circus, as in The high-wire act is almost always in the big top . [c. 1840]

2. Underworld slang for a maximum-security prison, as in He was sentenced to ten years in the big top . [1950s]

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Etymology

Origin of big top

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Example Sentences

A man whose usual job involves setting up big tops at music festivals is preparing to run the world's most southerly post office in Antarctica.

From BBC

Around 20 jugglers, trapeze artists and concession stand workers are filtering into the big top that the majestic Circus Vargas uses to perform across 25 California cities 11 months out of the year.

From Los Angeles Times

Out my window, I watch us rise higher and higher above Jackson; over the coliseum with its big top, the skyscrapers, the governor’s mansion, and churches downtown; the busy interstate, the sleepy suburbs.

From Literature

From there she could see the second hole, which was designed like a circus big top, and the edge of the third, which was ringed by enormous lollipops.

From Literature

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, that self-proclaimed greatest show on Earth, is back seven years after folding up its big top for what was feared to be the last time.

From New York Times