Dictionary

topcloth en · NOUN

Etymology

From top + cloth.

Meanings

1. A cloth used to cover the top of anything, such as a table or a person's torso.
   • In the market Nwibe's wife hurriedly removes her topcloth to cover her husband: behaviour that would be mad in many a non-African context. 2002, Harold Bloom, Chinua Achebe's Things fall apart, page 79:
   • On one table, for example, we placed a silver topcloth over a rose cotton undercloth. 1992, Renny Reynolds, Elaine Louie, The Art of the Party: Design Ideas for Successful Entertaining:
2. A piece of canvas used to cover the hammocks which are lashed to the top in action to protect the topmen.

Forms