Meaning & use
black top
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Meanings
nouncountable
A piece of clothing for the upper body that is black in color, especially a simple shirt or blouse.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a black top or two black tops.
Patterns
- wear a black top
- a black top and jeans
She wore a black top and a long gray skirt to the interview.
I spilled coffee on my black top, so I had to change before the meeting.
He packed three black tops and one pair of jeans for the trip.
noununcountableAmerican
A hard black surface used to cover roads, playgrounds, or parking areas; the material itself.
Grammar: No plural and no 'a': say the black top is wet, not a black top is wet. American English usually spells this sense as one word, 'blacktop'.
Patterns
- lay black top
- black top on the road
Workers are laying new black top on our street this week.
The children drew chalk pictures on the black top of the schoolyard.
nouncountable or uncountable
The black upper part of something, such as a shoe, a table, or a piece of equipment.
Grammar: Often used with 'the': the black top of the shoe. In this sense it usually names a specific part already mentioned.
Patterns
- the black top of something
The black top of the table shows every speck of dust.
Only the black top of his shoes was still shiny.
Word forms
| plural | black tops |
|---|
Common combinations
- wear a black top
- She likes to wear a black top with white trousers.
- a plain black top
- A plain black top works with almost any skirt.
- lay black top
- The crew will lay black top along the whole road.
- new black top
- The parking lot finally has new black top.
- the black top of something
- He polished the black top of the old desk.
Synonyms and how they differ
- blouse
- A blouse is a women's shirt, often dressy; a black top can be any black upper garment, casual or formal.
- shirt
- A shirt is usually a specific buttoned garment, while a black top is a looser, more general word.
- asphalt
- Asphalt is the technical name for the road material; black top is the everyday name and can also mean the finished surface.
Word family
Commonly confused: black top or blacktop? black top or black tie?
black top vs blacktop
One word, 'blacktop', is the usual American spelling for the road surface; two words, 'black top', usually mean a black item of clothing.
black top vs black tie
'Black tie' describes formal evening clothes for men, not a black upper garment in general.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'black top' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A black top' is correct because the noun is countable and needs a determiner. Option 1 uses a plural noun with 'a', option 2 leaves out the article, and option 3 adds a possessive to a noun that does not need one.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “black top”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.