topgallant

topgallant (comparative more topgallant, superlative most topgallant)

1. (nautical) Situated above the topmast and below the royal mast.

   the topgallant yards, braces, etc.

2. Of the most superior quality; the best of its kind.
   • 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:

     The consciences of top-gallant sparks.

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 9”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     Delight, — top-gallant delight is to him, who acknowledges no law or lord, but the Lord his God, and is only a patriot to heaven.

topgallant (plural topgallants)

1. (nautical) The sail suspended from the topmost section of a mast.
2. (nautical) The topmost section of a mast; topgallant mast.
3. Anything elevated or splendid.

• topgallant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913