top out
Britishverb
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Complete the top portion of a building, as in They were scheduled to top out the dome next week . This idiom was first recorded in 1834.
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Fill up a ship or complete its cargo, as in The ship was topped out with scrap iron . This idiom was first recorded in 1940.
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Cease rising, as in Interest rates topped out at 10 percent . [Second half of 1900s]
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Retire just as one becomes very successful, as in He decided that at sixty it was time to top out . [ Colloquial ; second half of 1900s]
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.
For those who are unaware, ordinary income is taxed on a graduated schedule from 10% up to 37%, while long-term capital gains top out at 15% for most people and 20% at the highest incomes.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Brooke Olshefski, a 35-year-old insurance account manager, dug a festival crop top out of the back of her closet for the occasion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Mike McPhaden, a senior scientist at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, had a similar estimate, telling AFP: "It's not inconceivable that 2027 may top out at 1.7C above preindustrial levels" if model forecasts bear out.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Temperatures are expected to reach 33C in Paris on Thursday, and top out at 34C on both Saturday and Sunday.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
It would be so simple, to run full out, perhaps to even climb a tree above the fog line, which seems to top out at about forty feet.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
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.
