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Glite Dictionary
🍕 A food layer 🌟 Excellent
topping

topping

27 1.8
Food put on top of a dish to add flavor or decorate
  • noun
  • /ˈtɑpɪŋ/
: cobertura
  • "We need ice cream with lots of toppings," Nicole screeched.
  • pizza topping
  • ice cream topping
  • whipped topping

Examples

  • That sandwich had all the toppings!

    Seal Team (2021)

  • Which of the following toppings would you like on the pizza that we order for our pizza party?

    Academic text (1998)

  • How about a little topping for your ice cream?

    Woody Woodpecker (2017)

  • It's much better with a topping.

    The Break-Up (2006)

  • OK, so these burgers have the topping and nothing else.

  • Hey, what kind of toppings do you want?

  • No more toppings for you.

    Tall Girl 2 (2022)

  • Each weekend, a homemade pizza meal is baked there using vegetable toppings grown in the garden.

    Academic text (2005)

  • A Kansas dirt-pie dessert selection was made from crushed chocolate sandwich cookies, pudding, and a whipped topping.

    Academic text (2003)

  • How about a little topping for your ice cream?

Synonyms

nut topping
vstopping
1 2.2

A layer of chopped nuts used to add flavor and crunch to food

is a general layer used to add flavor or decoration not a specific ingredient
breadcrumb topping
vstopping
1 3.4

A crunchy layer of breadcrumbs mixed with butter on top of a baked dish

is a general layer placed on a dish to add flavor or decoration

Antonyms

base
69 3.7

Serving as the bottom or main support for something

Compounds

chart-topping
4 4.1

A song or album that reaches number one in the music charts

nut topping
1 2.2

A layer of chopped nuts used to add flavor and crunch to food

breadcrumb topping
1 3.4

A crunchy layer of breadcrumbs mixed with butter on top of a baked dish

How Tasty

topping
27 1.8
frosting
  • US
52 1.0
sauce
652 1.0
garnish
36 3.2

Surface Forms

topping singular
toppings plural

Morphology

topping = top (transparent) = top + ing

The noun is a regular nominalization of 'top' with '-ing', and the culinary sense 'something placed on top' is directly recoverable from the base meaning.

Etymology

Topping comes from the simple word top ('the highest part') plus the ending -ing, so a food topping is literally something put on the top of a dish to add flavor or make it look nice.