topia

(Latin.) A fanciful style of mural decoration, consisting of landscapes of a very heterogeneous character, resembling those of the Chinese, much used in the Pompeian houses. *tō-pi-är-i-an, a. [Eng. topiary ; -an.] Of or pertaining to or practicing topiary work. tō-pi-ar-ý a. [Lat. topiarius =pertaining to ornamental gardening, from topia , ( opera ) = ornamental gardening, from Gr. topos =a place; French topiaire.] Shaped by cutting or clipping; as, topi ary work, which consists in giving all kinds of fanciful forms to arbors and thickets, trees and hedges. "No topiary hedge of quickset Was e'er so neatly cut or thickset." Butler: Weakne and Misery of Man. top-Ic, *top'-Ick, *top'-Icke, s . & a. [Fr. top iques = to picks, books or places of logical invention ( Cotgrave ), from Lat. topic a , neut. pl. of topi cus , from Gr. topikos =local, from topos =a place; Ital. topic a . ] A. As substantive: I. Ordinary Language: 1. The subject of a discourse, argument, literary composition, or conversation; the subject of any distinct portion of a discourse, .; the matter treated of; theme. "We are much to blame, that we banish religious to picks from our discourse."- Secker : Sermons , vol. iv., ser. 16. IMG:content-1237.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1238.png:[blocks in formation] top-It, s. [TOP.] The top-piece of a train of rods in well-boring. top-le , a. [Eng. top; -le .] 1. So high as to have no visible top; very lofty. "But thine, the keystone of his tople tower Iseult, is one with Love's own lordliest name." A. C. Swinburne: Tristram of Lyone e, iii. 2. Having no superior; supreme. "Sometime, great Agamemnon, Thy tople deputation he puts on." Shakesp.: Troilus and Cre ida , i. 2. top-man, s . [Eng. top , and man .] *1. Ord. Lang .: A top-sawyer (q. v.). "The pit-saw enters the one end of the stuff, the top man at the top, and the pitman under him."- Moxon : Mechanical Exercises . 2. Naut.: A man standing on the top; a top stop-mast, s. [Eng. top, and mast.] IMG:content-1239.png:[blocks in formation] top-most, a. [Eng. top, and most.] Highest, uppermost. "With offer'd vows, in Ilion's topmost tower." Pope: Homer's Iliad, vi. 112. top-o-phone, s . [Gr. topos =a place, and phone = a a sound.] A device for intensifying and locating sounds at sea. Its primary purpose is to prevent collisions between ve els in time of fog and at night by warning them of each other's presence and in like manner to prevent shipwreck by warning ve els of the proximity of a dangerous shore. Called also eophone.