▪ I. topman1
(ˈtɒpmən)
[f. top n.1 + man n.1]
† 1. A ship (man n.1 14) with a top on its mast; = top-ship (top n.1 35). Obs.
| 1513 N. West in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 67, I found none but ix. or x. small topmen,..and other small balyngiers and crayers,..one little topman of the burdon of threescore tonne. 1577 Harrison England ii. xvii. (1877) i. 290 There are 135 ships that exceed 500 tun; topmen vnder 100, and aboue fortie, 656. |
† 2. A hangman: = topsman 2. slang. Obs.
| 1607 W. N. Barley-Breake D iv b, A nimble Ape his topman strait will be And hangs vp Streton. |
3. Naut. A seaman stationed in one of the tops, to attend to the upper sails, or in a fighting ship as a marksman.
| 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. viii. 379 Her topmen..made prodigious havock with their small arms, killing or wounding every officer..on the quarter-deck. 1825 H. B. Gascoigne Nav. Fame 74 The Topmen now the Backstays well attend, To lesser duties all attention lend. 1830 Marryat King's Own xvi, Topmen, aloft! loose top-gallant sails. 1898 H. Newbolt Isl. Race 8 One morning the topmen reported below The old Agamemnon escaped from the foe. |
4. a. The upper man in a saw-pit: = top-sawyer a; cf. pitman 3.
| 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc. v. 98 With the Pit-Saw they enter the one end of the Stuff, the Top-man at the Top, and the Pit-man under him. Ibid. vi. 113 Of the two Sawyers, the uppermost is called the Top-man. 1881 Lumber World Mar., The frame or sash saw is operated in the same manner by a top-man and a pit-man. |
b. A miner or pitman working at the top of the shaft.
| 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right iii, The bucket appeared slightly above the brace at the shaft, and was taken by the topman. 1912 Scotsman 5 Apr. 5/2 There was..no settlement of the banksmen's or topmen's question. |
c. (See quot. 1964.)
| 1961 Evening Standard 3 Aug. 21/4 (Advt.), Topmen reqd. for demolition trade. 1962 Parker & Allerton Courage of his Convictions i. 22 He's a top man, and don't you forget it... When derelict buildings were being knocked down he was one of those on the roof. 1964 J. S. Scott Dict. Building 94 Demolisher or mattock man or topman or housebreaker, a skilled man who pulls down a wall by standing on top of it and breaking pieces off below him, or by pulling a loose wall with a winch and rope, or by means of a concrete breaker. 1973 Daily Tel. 7 Mar. 13/2 Pulling down the YMCA dome, 120ft. or about 15 storeys high, had to begin with a topman..picking away with mattock. |
▪ II. ˈtopman2 rare.
[f. top n.2 3 + man n.1]
A man who is engaged in laying rope.
| 1851–4 Tomlinson Cycl. Arts (1866) II. 465/2 The motion of the top requires to be regulated so as to ensure equal hardness in the rope: the topman, therefore, before putting in the top, makes a mark across the strands of every beam: if, when the top reaches a beam the mark be above the bearer, the topman knows that the turning at the foretop has been too fast. |