foretop
(ˈfɔətɒp)
Also for-.
[f. fore- prefix + top.]
† 1. The fore part of the crown of the head; sometimes, loosely, the top of the head. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Deut. xxxiii. 20 As a lioun he restide, & he took arme and fortop [L. verticem]. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 217 Heer faillede on his moolde and on his fortop. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 115 He felle and brake hys fore tope Apon the bare growend. a 1529 Skelton Col. Cloute 533 When the good ale sop Dothe daunce in theyr fore top. 1675 J. Smith Chr. Relig. Appeal Pref. 1 The Abantes..were wont to shave their foretops and chins. c 1774 T. Erskine in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1800) III. 321 Puppies of France, with unrelenting paws That scrape the foretops of our aching heads. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Milton Wks. II. 139 His hair..parted at the foretop. |
| fig. 1654 Gataker Disc. Apol. 12 This charge..appeering with an apparent lie in the foretop. |
† 2. a. The lock of hair which grows upon the fore part of the crown, or is arranged ornamentally on the forehead; the similar part of a wig.
Obs.| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 317/625 Þe Rym-forst..cleouez on hegges..I-chot wel, on mi fore-top it hauez wel ofte i-do. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1078 His fax and his foretoppe was filterede to-geders. 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie iii. xi. 228 Hauing knit the brow, Stroke vp his fore-top. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 76 Poking stickes, perriwigs, embroided fore-tops. 1667 Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 385 Her Majesty in the same habit, her fore-top long and turned aside very strangely. 1703 S. Centlivre Beau's Duel iv. i, I believe you have got the fore-top of some Beau's Wig. 1712 Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 331 Henry Prince of Wales in his own short Hair, with his foretop standing up. 1772 Nugent Hist. Friar Gerund II. 3 He was as keen a pair of scissars at trimming a sermon as adjusting a foretop. 1814 Scott Wav. xi, The foretop of his riding periwig. |
| fig. 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. i. Wks. 1878 II. 51 Faire trees, those comely fore-tops of the Field. |
† b. fig.;
esp. in phrase
to take occasion,
opportunity or
time by the foretop (
= forelock).
Obs.| a 1577 Gascoigne Flowers, Hearbes, etc. Wks. (1587) 255 You hauing occasion fast by the foretop, did dally with him so long. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. v. iii, Opportunity shakes us his foretop. 1624 Heywood Captives iii. iii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, Loose not this advantadge But take tyme by the fore-topp. 1694 Dryden Love Triumph. iii. i, Now take the blest occasion by the foretop. |
† c. One who wears a foretop; hence, a fop.
| 1597 1st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. i. 1237 This cringer, this foretopp. Ibid. v. i. 1435. |
3. The tuft of hair hanging between the ears of an animal,
esp. of a horse or (
U.S.) a sheep;
= forelock.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 222 A fore-top, which is granted to Horses not only for ornament sake, but also for necessity to defend their eyes. 1689 Lond. Gaz. No. 2467 4 A Nag..with a thin Mane, without a Foretop. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Travelling Horse, His Foretop, Mane and Tail should be wetted with a wet Mane-Comb. 1798 Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Summer 236 He..Seizes the shaggy fore-top of the bull. 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. 264 note, Wool..the tail..and the fore-top. 1866 Ret. Agric. Soc. Maine 149 They all had the large foretop on the forehead. 1874 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. II. 416 When young they should have good foretop, and the skin a light pink. |
4. a. The
top of a foremast.
military foretop: an armed foretop of a war vessel.
| 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 48 His place is best Hye in the foretoppe of our foolishe barge. 1610 Englands Eliza Induct. 84 in Mirr. Mag. 777 Each..nimblie capring on the purple waue, With loftie foretops did the welkin brave. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. xvi. 453 Three men were in the Fore-top when the Fore-mast broke. 1795 Nelson 8 July in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 51 The Alcide..took fire, by a box of combustibles in her fore-top. 1833 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 29 ‘Captain of the foretop’, said he, ‘up on your horses’. 1895 Century Mag. Aug. 595/1 The sub⁓lieutenant in the military foretop was taking sextant angles. |
| fig. 1641 Milton Reform. ii. (1851) 47 Spanioliz'd Bishops swaggering in the fore-top of the State. |
b. Short for
fore-topgallant-masthead.
| 1800 Naval Chron. III. 113 Commodore J. W. Payne's Broad Pendant is flying at the Foretop. |
5. U.S. The front seat on the top of a vehicle.
| 1850 B. Taylor Eldorado xliii. (1862) 430 When one has to face the cold from the foretop of a diligence. 1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xii. 77 It was worth a lifetime of city toiling..to perch in the foretop with the driver. |
6. Comb. (sense 4), as
foretop-head,
-shroud = fore-topmast-head,
-shroud;
foretopman, one of the men stationed in the foretop.
| 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4752/3 Sir Edward Whitaker hoisted the White Flag on the Foretop-head of her Majesty's Ship the Monmouth. 1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master i. 7 Those fore-top-men I shall flog. 1860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. ci. 3 There is a young man, a fore-topman, sitting now with his Esquimaux wife. |
Hence
ˈfore-ˌtopping = sense 3.
| 1683 Lond. Gaz. No. 1807/4 A black Gelding..a sore place under the Fore-topping. |