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.
Rates start from $137 a night in low season and top out at around $345 in the summer—a bargain compared to other hotels in town.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 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
If those tanks top out, Tehran will be forced to shut in active wells—a drastic measure risking permanent infrastructure damage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The Sparks announced the signing of some its top out of contract players and free agents Nneka Ogwumike and Erica Wheeler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
He worked his pajama top out from under his back.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
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.
