topknot

American  

[top-not] / ˈtɒpˌnɒt /

noun

1. a tuft of hair growing on the top of the head.

2. hair fashioned into a knob or ball on top of the head.

3. a tuft or crest of feathers on the head of a bird.

4. a knot or bow of ribbon worn on the top of the head.

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topknot British  

/ ˈtɒpˌnɒt /

noun

1. a crest, tuft, decorative bow, chignon, etc, on the top of the head

2. any of several European flatfishes of the genus Zeugopterus and related genera, esp Z. punctatus, which has an oval dark brown body marked with darker blotches: family Bothidae (turbot, etc)

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Etymology

Origin of topknot

First recorded in 1680–90; top ¹ + knot ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

topknot

Haring limned his oval head, the topknot above a receding hairline, a pair of prominent ears and eyes staring out from behind black-rimmed eyeglasses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2023

She arrived in the window in a PBS T-shirt with a stretched out neck, that brown hair piled into a messy topknot, talking fast and sharp and bright.

From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2023

His topknot had just been cut off as a forfeit for losing out on a challenge to a colleague at the direct sales company for which he worked in 2018.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2022

Several of Max-Karl Winkler’s subjects are enclosed within circles, and in his “The Checkered Scarf,” a woman’s torso, topknot and titular scarf all protrude from the oblong that contains her head.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 7, 2021

Her blue flannel shirt was threadbare and old, and her silky blond hair was up in a topknot.

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart