Fill a container, especially when it is almost full to begin with. For example, I don't need much gas; just top off the tank, please . [First half of 1900s]
Finish, especially in a spectacular way, as in They topped off their trip with a visit to the White House . [First half of 1800s]
First recorded in 1940–45; noun use of verb phrase top off to inform (on someone)
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It didn’t save gas and more often than not it triggered panic buying, like the 12-cent top-off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
This was just a top-off to hit its capex target and still have some cash left over.
From Barron's ● Dec. 8, 2025
Engineers deliberately left the fuel tank accessible for a top-off by visiting spacecraft, if and when such technology becomes available.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 25, 2021
They can be fully charged up in 2.5 hours, and in a low-battery pinch, a 15-minute top-off should get you three hours of listening time.
From The Verge ● Sep. 29, 2021
The fund is filled with gas tax receipts and the occasional top-off from the government’s regular coffers.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 28, 2021
I yanked the top off the body-wash dispenser at one hotel and left it off until I checked out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Instead of blowing the top off a mountain, you build a gas plant next to a town and run it 24/7 for server racks.
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2025
To top off his lavish property portfolio, the businessman also snapped up a home on the south side of Maui in 2004.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2025
The men had to cut the top off the cork and very carefully drill the cork out.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2024
The man took the bottle from him and put its head in his mouth and slowly pried the top off.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Definitions 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.
