Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tippe top

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: tippe -top
IPA

14

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A spinning top of a shape with counterintuitive behavior: generally mushroomlike or spherical, with a rounded head and a short stem; when spun head-down on a smooth, flat surface, it inverts its attitude so that it spins head-up, on the tip of the stem, until it loses momentum and falls over.

Example Sentences

"On a flat surface, the tippe top will rest stably with its stem up. However, spun fast enough on its blunt end, the tippe top momentarily defies gravity, inverts, and spins on its stem until dissipation causes it to slow down and then fall over."

Etymology

Coined by Danish engineer Werner Østberg in the 1950s.

Inflected Forms

tippe tops (plural) tippy top (alternative)

Questions

What does tippe top mean?: A spinning top of a shape with counterintuitive behavior: generally mushroomlike or spherical, with a rounded head and a short stem; when spun head-down on a smooth, flat surface, it inverts its attitude so that it spins head-up, on the tip of the stem, until it loses momentum and falls over.
Where does tippe top come from?: Coined by Danish engineer Werner Østberg in the 1950s.

How to pronounce tippe top

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