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.
The problem with the permabears is that they will get you out at the top, out at the middle and out at the bottom.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 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
First a technical note: Musk’s much-ballyhooed potential payout of $1 trillion in stock would now top out around $824 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Meanwhile, Italian authorities have issued a red heatwave alert for the capital, Rome, where it could top out at 32C on Thursday.
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.
