▪ I. † ˈtopple, n.1 Obs.
In 5 topylle.
[f. top n.1 + -le 1.]
? A crest, tuft: cf. topping vbl. n.1 2.
| 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 675/29 Hic cirrus, a topylle. |
▪ II. topple, n.2 rare.
(ˈtɒp(ə)l)
[f. next.]
An act of toppling or overbalancing and falling.
| 1907 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 272/2 This ain't the topple over of the Coll building yet. |
▪ III. topple, v.
(ˈtɒp(ə)l)
[f. top v.1 + -le 3.]
1. a. intr. To fall top foremost, or as if top-heavy; to fall headlong, tumble or pitch over. Also fig.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 53 The wisest Aunt..Sometime for three-foot stoole, mistaketh me, Then slip I from her bum, downe topples she. 1605 ― Macb. iv. i. 56 Though castles topple on their Warders heads. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 200 Although you bee ready to topple into your grave, and haue not much longer to liue. 1786 tr. Beckford's Vathek (1868) 108 The watch-towers were ready to topple headlong upon them. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxvi. (1856) 211 When these [bergs] attain their utmost height, still pressed on by others, they topple over. 1884 Pall Mall G. 16 Feb. 5/2 Water stocks toppled all round yesterday. |
† b. ? To roll or tumble about; in quot. 1568, ? to wrestle, to ‘try a fall’ with. Obs.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. i. 146 b, When ye must lye toppleyng in the dust. 1568 Jacob & Esau ii. ii. C j b, Esau... I will not eate thee Ragau... Ragau. No... Being in your best lust I woulde topple with ye, And plucke a good crowe, ere ye brake your fast with me. |
c. To turn somersaults. dial.
| 1801 Bloomfield Rural T., Rich. & Kate xxx, The Children toppled on the green. 1802 W. Taylor in Robberds Mem. I. 411 A boy about eleven..was toppling beside the Diligence in hope of halfpence. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Topple, to tumble; to bring the head to the ground and throw the heels over. |
2. intr. To lean over unsteadily, as if on the point of falling; to overhang threateningly.
| 1827 Pollok Course T. v. 585 Toppling upon the perilous edge of Hell. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xv. 19 Yonder cloud That..topples round the dreary west, A looming bastion fringed with fire. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. vii. 47 Masses of granite..toppling above the terminal face of the glacier. |
3. a. trans. To cause to tumble over or fall headlong; to thrust over, overturn, throw down. Also fig.
to topple up one's heels, to die: see heel n.1 24.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 32 (Qos.) Vnruly wind..which..Shakes the old Beldame earth, and topples [Fol. tumbles] down Steeples and mossegrown towers. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe 13 In one year, seauen thousand and fifty people toppled vp their heeles there. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. vii. xi. 434 At the moment when the victorious legions of Titus had toppled down their bulwarks. 1856 Miss Mulock J. Halifax ix, Don't..topple us at once down the slope. 1907 C. Hill-Tout Brit. N. Amer., Far West vii. 136 They topple over the biggest trees in this way. 1951 Amer. Speech XXVI. 230/2 California topples Washington. 1970 A. Toffler Future Shock (1971) viii. 177 Research topples older conceptions of man and nature. 1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 23 They beat Scotland 6-3 (one drawn) in the semi-finals and went on to topple England ‘A’ 6-1 (three drawn) in the final. 1979 Daily Tel. 26 May 14/4 A painting by Burne-Jones..made {pstlg}48,000, toppling the artist's previous best price of {pstlg}33,000. 1983 Times 15 Feb. 7/1 The revolution that toppled the regime of Emperor Haile Selassie eight years ago. |
b. topple (tapple) up tail, topple tail: in phr. † to play tapple up tail, ? to die (cf. topple up one's heels in 3); to turn topple-tail, to turn a somersault (cf. 1 c).
| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 57 Take heede..To thresher for hurting of cow with his flaile, Or making thy hen to plaie tapple vp taile. 1828 Craven Gloss., Topple, ‘to turn topple tail ower’, to turn topsy turvy. 1884 Pall Mall G. 6 Mar. 11/2 How many..have you..who can turn topple-tail accurately? |
4. To cause to tip or tilt so as to be in danger of being upset. rare.
| a 1656 Bp. Hall Breathings Devout Soul (1851) 187 Like some little cock-boat in a rough sea, which every billow topples up and down, and threats to sink. |
Hence ˈtoppled ppl. a., overturned, thrown down; ˈtoppler, one who topples; dial. a tumbler, acrobat.
| 1871 J. Miller Songs Italy (1878) 23 *Toppled old columns that tumble across. 1897 Daily News 30 Sept. 5/4 Toppled cartloads of..bricks. |
| a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, *Toppler, a tumbler, who, among various antic postures, throws his heels over his head. |