foretop en · NOUN
Etymology
From Middle English fore-top, for-top, equivalent to fore- + top.
Meanings
- (obsolete) The top of the head; the top of the forehead.
- (obsolete) The lock of hair which grows on top of the forehead; the corresponding part of a wig.
- (obsolete) In the phrase, to take time (or occasion or opportunity) by the foretop, meaning "to boldly seize an opportunity".
- (obsolete) A fop; one who sports a foretop.
- (UK, dialectal) An erect tuft of hair.
- The forelock of a horse.
-
A platform at the top of the foremast, supported by the trestle trees.
The second captain of the foretop outed himself in one muscular contraction.
1960, J. E. Macdonnell, Don't Gimme the Ships, Melbourne: Horwitz Publications, page 131:His station was in the fore-top, and often from there he looked down, with the contempt of a man destined to shine in the midst of dangers, at the peaceful multitude of roofs cut in two by the brown tide of the stream, while scattered on the outskirts of the surrounding plain the factory chimneys rose perpendicular against a grimy sky, each slender like a pencil, and belching out smoke like a volcano.
1903, Joseph Conrad, chapter 1, in Lord Jim:
- The front seat at the top of a horse-drawn vehicle.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| foretops | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Synonyms
fine gentleman · barbermonger · carpet knight · dude · masher · puss-gentleman · swell · jetter · fribble · spark · Jemmy-Jessamy · dood · popinjay · petit maître · prig · toff · metrosexual · buck · gallant · macaroni · foretop · dandy · spiff · popinjay · cockscomb · pretty boy · mignon · smart · tippy · fop · go · exquisite · blade · dike · fast man · fashionable · dudelet · dandy · blood · beau · jack-a-dandy
Translations (9)
ja アホ毛 (erect tuft of hair) · ca cofa (nautical: platform at the top of the foremast) · it ciuffo (erect tuft of hair) · fi kuskinpukki (front seat) · fi hiustöyhtö (erect tuft of hair) · it ciocca (erect tuft of hair) · fr hune (nautical: platform at the top of the foremast) · es cofa (nautical: platform at the top of the foremast) · fi keulamärssy (nautical: platform at the top of the foremast)