"run like a top" meaning in English

See run like a top in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-run like a top.ogg [Australia] Forms: runs like a top [present, singular, third-person], running like a top [participle, present], ran like a top [past], run like a top [participle, past]
Etymology: Derived from comparison to the smooth, balanced manner of the operation of a spinning top. Head templates: {{en-verb|run<,,ran,run> like a top}} run like a top (third-person singular simple present runs like a top, present participle running like a top, simple past ran like a top, past participle run like a top)
  1. (simile, usually of motorized machinery) To operate flawlessly and smoothly. Tags: usually Related terms: like clockwork
    Sense id: en-run_like_a_top-en-verb-4~ewsFOq Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English similes

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for run like a top meaning in English (1.8kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "Derived from comparison to the smooth, balanced manner of the operation of a spinning top.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "runs like a top",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "running like a top",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ran like a top",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "run like a top",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "run<,,ran,run> like a top"
      },
      "expansion": "run like a top (third-person singular simple present runs like a top, present participle running like a top, simple past ran like a top, past participle run like a top)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English similes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I've just tuned my car, and now it's running like a top.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To operate flawlessly and smoothly."
      ],
      "id": "en-run_like_a_top-en-verb-4~ewsFOq",
      "links": [
        [
          "operate",
          "operate"
        ],
        [
          "flawlessly",
          "flawlessly"
        ],
        [
          "smoothly",
          "smoothly"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "simile",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(simile, usually of motorized machinery) To operate flawlessly and smoothly."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of motorized machinery"
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "like clockwork"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "usually"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-run like a top.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a8/En-au-run_like_a_top.ogg/En-au-run_like_a_top.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/En-au-run_like_a_top.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "run like a top"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "Derived from comparison to the smooth, balanced manner of the operation of a spinning top.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "runs like a top",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "running like a top",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ran like a top",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "run like a top",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "run<,,ran,run> like a top"
      },
      "expansion": "run like a top (third-person singular simple present runs like a top, present participle running like a top, simple past ran like a top, past participle run like a top)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "like clockwork"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English similes",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I've just tuned my car, and now it's running like a top.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To operate flawlessly and smoothly."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "operate",
          "operate"
        ],
        [
          "flawlessly",
          "flawlessly"
        ],
        [
          "smoothly",
          "smoothly"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "simile",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(simile, usually of motorized machinery) To operate flawlessly and smoothly."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of motorized machinery"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "usually"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-run like a top.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a8/En-au-run_like_a_top.ogg/En-au-run_like_a_top.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/En-au-run_like_a_top.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "run like a top"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.