Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A light kept in the top of a ship for signaling or for the use of the topmen.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Naut.) A lantern or light on the top of a vessel.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word top-light.

Examples

  • So we ended up with what I might call a top-light First Class!

    Fortune's Favorites McCullough, Colleen, 1937- 1993

  • “But …” the driver said, but Grijpstra was behind the wheel and the car backed out of the garage, its blue top-light flashing.

    The Japanese Corpse Van de Wetering, Janwillem, 1931- 1977

  • The shop in question is near the East Gate, but is hardly to be found without careful search, being denoted only by the name of "REDFERN," painted not very conspicuously in the top-light of the door.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 62, December, 1862 Various

  • There was no moon to shine in through the top-light and uncharitably disclose the greasy, ragged carpet, or the squalor of the room.

    The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale 1909

  • From the top-light, high up near the ceiling and far above the little French window whose shade was drawn, there came a faint and timid streak of moonlight.

    The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale 1909

  • And now, twin to that streak of lesser gloom that came from the top-light, another filtered into the room.

    The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale 1909

  • A passing cloud for a moment obscured the moonrays from the top-light; the gas-jet choked with air, spluttered, burning with a tiny, blue, hissing flame; then the white path lay across the floor again, and the yellow flare of gas spurted up into its pitiful fulness -- and in

    The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale 1909

  • And he lay there staring unseeingly into the moonrays as they streamed in through the top-light.

    The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale 1909

  • The top-light, high up near the ceiling, threw a misty ray of moonlight along the greasy, threadbare carpet, and threw into relief a folded piece of dark-coloured paper at Jimmie Dale's feet.

    The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale 1909

  • The studio was a large room on the upper story, with the orthodox north windows and top-light, in the shape of a skylight.

    A harum-scarum schoolgirl Angela Brazil 1907

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.