a toy that is spun on its pointed base by a flick of the fingers, by pushing a handle at the top up and down, etc
2.
anything that spins or whirls around
3. sleep like a top
Word origin
Old English, of unknown origin
Examples of 'spinning top' in a sentence
spinning top
I was kinder to Hap's things, knowing that a spinning top, long outgrown as a plaything, could still have meaning to him.
Robin Hobb THE GOLDEN FOOL: BOOK TWO OF THE TAWNY MAN (2002)
At the time of printing it still isn't finished, but it's described as resembling a 'spinning-top'.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Overhead, the little band picks up every cunning reference to march tunes, ballads and hootenanny: it's like a multicoloured spinning-top made audible.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
And why drop the heartbreaking scene with the spinning top?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The same doll and spinning top were wrapped and rewrapped each year.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Only when the action begins to unravel with the whirling velocity of a spinning top does the fun turn ferocious.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
He whirled round like a spinning top, creating a little hurricane at his feet, which the ball got caught up in.
The Sun (2014)
I can wave a colourful spinning top in front of her but it's the hard bright screen of my phone that she wants.