top-heavy
[top-hev-ee]
- having the top disproportionately heavy; liable to fall from too great weight above.
- relatively much heavier or larger above the center or waist than below: a top-heavy wrestler.
- Finance.
- having a financial structure overburdened with securities that have priority in the payment of dividends.
- overcapitalized.
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Origin of top-heavy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for top-heavy
Historical Examples
"And you're getting it so high it's top-heavy," cautioned Mrs. Drelmer.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
But the weight of the stones makes him top-heavy; he falls in and is drowned.
StoryologyBenjamin Taylor
And your skull will be so top-heavy with prudence, that it will be difficult for you to keep on your feet.
The Cycle of SpringRabindranath Tagore
It was almost a miracle that the top-heavy sled did not upset.
The Camp in the SnowWilliam Murray Graydon
Top-heavy was the ship as a dinnerless student with all Aristotle in his head.
Moby Dick; or The WhaleHerman Melville
top-heavy
- unstable or unbalanced through being overloaded at the top
- finance (of an enterprise or its capital structure) characterized by or containing too much debt capital in relation to revenue or profit so that too little is left over for dividend distributions; overcapitalized
- (of a business enterprise) having too many executives
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for top-heavy
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper