top of the pile
3
4.6
- idiom
- UK
:
en la cima
- It's a great struggle to be at the top of the pile—but get there, and it's still a pile.
Examples
-
The project proposal is at the top of the pile for funding this year.
-
Her research earned her a spot at the top of the pile in the competition.
-
Well, trust me, this will be right on top of the pile.
-
So how do you get your play to the top of the pile?
Academic text (2010) -
The letter on the top of the pile drew his attention once more.
Fiction book (2002) -
So, there it sits, top of the pile on my desk, waiting for completion.
Blog text (34) -
The World Cup trophy he'll win in Brazil will only cement his name at the top of the pile.
Blog text (8) -
At the top of the pile of boulders, we emerge, dirty and blinking, into full June sunlight.
Academic text (2008) -
At the top of the pile was a document called "Answer to Complaint" in the case of Barton versus InterContinental Aerospace.
Fiction book (1995) -
To get the promotion, you need to place your application at the top of the pile.
Synonyms
∞
2.1
The highest position in a job or field
436
1.7
The first and most important person or thing in a list
73
4.8
The most important position in an area of work or activity
21
4.6
A person with the most power in a group
7
6.7
A person who is best in a group or class
3
9.3
A clear top item on charts or rankings that is much more popular than others
2
4.4
A person or group who is top and most powerful after a competition
2
7.3
The most important person in a group of people who have the same position
1
7.5
A person who is in charge of a group and makes the main decisions
1
7.7
The most important person in a group or organization
1
5.6
The highest level of success in a job or field
1
5.5
The highest job or status in a company
A person who is better than all others in a group
The highest and hardest job to get in politics or business
Antonyms
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'most important or prominent' is directly built from 'top' (highest point) + 'pile' (a heap), so the phrase literally denotes being at the highest position in a collection and metaphorically extends to ranking/status. This spatial-to-social mapping ('top of X') is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern in English and would be predictable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words and the prepositional construction.
Etymology
Top of the pile comes from the simple image of a pile of papers or things, where the one on the top is easiest to see and pick first. So, calling someone the top of the pile means they are 'most important' or have the highest priority.