Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Topping \Top"ping\, n.
   1. The act of one who tops; the act of cutting off the top.

   2. (Naut.) The act of raising one extremity of a spar higher
      than the other.

   3. pl. That which comes from hemp in the process of
      hatcheling.

   {Topping lift} (Naut.), a large, strong tackle employed to
      raise or top the end of a gaff, or of a boom.