Basic Details
Word: Tops
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: The highest parts or upper surfaces of things. Tops are also spinning toys and clothes worn on the upper body.
Synonyms: peaks, summits
Antonyms: bottoms, bases
How to Spell Tops
Syllables: tops
Tricky part: Top only needs an s to become plural. There is no double p and no e, as some students add.
Watch out for: topps, toppes, tobs
Memory tip: A short word like top makes its plural with s alone: one top, two tops. Double the p only when ing or ed follows, as in topping.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The tops of the Himalayan peaks stay white all year round.
Example 2: Mother bought two cotton tops for me from Sarojini Nagar market.
Example 3: Please screw the tops back on the paint bottles after art class.
Fun Fact
In many parts of India a wooden spinning top is called a lattu. Children wind a string round it and fling it so that it spins on its metal tip.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word tops as it is used in the sentence:
In winter, the tops of the pine trees near Manali disappear under thick snow.
a) summits
b) peaks
c) bottoms
d) crowns
Show answer
c) bottoms. Peaks, summits and crowns are all high points; bottoms are the lowest parts.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The snowy ptso of the mountains glowed pink in the early sunlight.
a) stop
b) taps
c) toes
d) tops
Show answer
d) tops. Toes and taps bring in letters the jumble does not have, and stop makes no sense before of the mountains.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The children raced to the topps of the sand dunes outside Jaisalmer and sat there quietly to watch the sun sink behind the desert.
a) quietly
b) dunes
c) topps
d) desert
Show answer
c) topps. Top adds only an s to make its plural, with one p.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In Riya tops her class in maths, the word tops means ____.
a) leaves early from
b) is new to
c) dislikes
d) comes first in
Show answer
d) comes first in
2. A shop selling tops and jeans sells ____.
a) spinning toys
b) upper-body clothes
c) hair clips
d) mountain maps
Show answer
b) upper-body clothes
