Dictionary

topman en · NOUN

Etymology

From top + -man.

Meanings

1. The man stationed in the top on a sailing vessel, responsible for the setting of the sails
   • There, when not actually engaged on the yards yet higher aloft, the topmen, who as such had been picked out for youth and activity, constituted an aerial club lounging at ease against the smaller stun'sails rolled up into cushions, spinning yarns like the lazy gods, and frequently amused with what was going on in the busy world of the decks below. 1924, Herman Melville, chapter 8, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.:
2. The uppermost sawyer in a sawpit; a topsman.
3. A top, dom.
   • Back in the alcove I watched as a bearded daddy type whipped a guy who was bent over the sawhorse. The topman kept the tip of his tongue poked between his lips like a little kid hard at work in a coloring book. 1989 February 12, Christopher Wittke, “A Leather Belt Is The Perfect Accessory...”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 30, page 8:

Forms