What's the difference between altar and top?

Altar


Definition:

  • (n.) A raised structure (as a square or oblong erection of stone or wood) on which sacrifices are offered or incense burned to a deity.
  • (n.) In the Christian church, a construction of stone, wood, or other material for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist; the communion table.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) From Africa, the archbishop of Kenya warned "the devil has entered the church", while a few days before the ceremony Robinson received a postcard from England, depicting the high altar of Durham cathedral and bearing the message: "You fornicating, lecherous pig."
  • (2) In its proposals the MoJ is displaying a callous disregard for the rights of its citizens, as client choice and quality of legal service have been sacrificed on the altar of price competition.
  • (3) Because of course nothing is more destructive of the sanctity of his own vocation than the suggestion that we simply don't need this kind of conservation – if that's what it really is – at all; that on the contrary, the entire "relaunch" is simply the bastard offspring of an orgiastic union between Mammon and science, consummated on the Stonehenge altar stone and observed by the fee-paying public.
  • (4) He thought he would be his altar boy but it turned out that Ahmadinejad wanted to be the priest."
  • (5) From glossy magazines to giant billboards and the celebrity culture we obsessively consume, all kneel at the altar of the airbrushed.
  • (6) His bedridden mother stumbled to her feet Tuesday to pray at the altar set up where he slept.
  • (7) Facebook Twitter Pinterest People pray in front of an altar especially set up Tama’s funeral in Kinokawa City, Wakayama prefecture.
  • (8) During the original trial, much emphasis was placed on the blasphemy of the women doing their dance right in front of the altar.
  • (9) The volte face was a result of Russian blackmail, the Lithuanian president's office said as senior officials in Brussels said Yanukovych was sacrificing the hopes and wishes of most of his countrymen on the altar of Russian money and contracts.
  • (10) Because by then I had learned, rubbing polish into an altar, that active citizenship is essential for any functioning democracy.
  • (11) Economics is thus humiliated on the altar of politics, and principle is sacrificed to expediency.
  • (12) Dr David Petts, a lecturer in archaeology at Durham University, said: "We found the Binchester head close to where a small Roman altar was found two years ago.
  • (13) How dangerously flimsy would one's marriage have to be before it felt threatened by other couples signing a different piece of paper – or, indeed, by a same sex couple following you to the altar?
  • (14) If a rock group invaded Westminster Abbey and gravely insulted a religious or ethnic minority before the high altar, we all know that ministers would howl for "exemplary punishment" and judges would oblige.
  • (15) The temple originally had a sunken nave flanked by seven symbolic pairs of pillars leading to the altar, a ritual well and raised seating on either side.
  • (16) In a country where voters do not want to sacrifice social welfare to the altar of austerity, analysts warn none of the main candidates are going far enough to slash spending.
  • (17) Though the Queen will not wear St Edward's crown, the heavy gold crown first used for Charles II's coronation, at Tuesday's service, it will be brought from its home at the Tower of London to rest on the abbey's high altar, along with the Ampulla, the hollow gold eagle from which oil was poured to anoint her in 1953.
  • (18) When the Dalai Lama came to collect his cheque at a ceremony in St Paul's Cathedral, eight Buddhist monks sat chanting in front of the high altar as the nave filled up.
  • (19) Dominique Venner , 78, a far-right essayist and historian took his life in front of the altar at Notre Dame on Tuesday after writing a blog condemning France's recently passed law allowing same-sex marriage and adoption.
  • (20) "Don't tell me that this Compeyson is the man who left Miss Havisham at the altar, that he is now searching for you in London, and that you are actually Estella's father."

Top


Definition:

  • (n.) Eve; verge; point.
  • (n.) A child's toy, commonly in the form of a conoid or pear, made to spin on its point, usually by drawing off a string wound round its surface or stem, the motion being sometimes continued by means of a whip.
  • (n.) A plug, or conical block of wood, with longitudital grooves on its surface, in which the strands of the rope slide in the process of twisting.
  • (n.) The highest part of anything; the upper end, edge, or extremity; the upper side or surface; summit; apex; vertex; cover; lid; as, the top of a spire; the top of a house; the top of a mountain; the top of the ground.
  • (n.) The utmost degree; the acme; the summit.
  • (n.) The highest rank; the most honorable position; the utmost attainable place; as, to be at the top of one's class, or at the top of the school.
  • (n.) The chief person; the most prominent one.
  • (n.) The crown of the head, or the hair upon it; the head.
  • (n.) The head, or upper part, of a plant.
  • (n.) A platform surrounding the head of the lower mast and projecting on all sudes. It serves to spead the topmast rigging, thus strengheningthe mast, and also furnishes a convenient standing place for the men aloft.
  • (n.) A bundle or ball of slivers of comkbed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out.
  • (n.) The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface.
  • (n.) Top-boots.
  • (v. i.) To rise aloft; to be eminent; to tower; as, lofty ridges and topping mountains.
  • (v. i.) To predominate; as, topping passions.
  • (v. i.) To excel; to rise above others.
  • (v. t.) To cover on the top; to tip; to cap; -- chiefly used in the past participle.
  • (v. t.) To rise above; to excel; to outgo; to surpass.
  • (v. t.) To rise to the top of; to go over the top of.
  • (v. t.) To take off the or upper part of; to crop.
  • (v. t.) To perform eminently, or better than before.
  • (v. t.) To raise one end of, as a yard, so that that end becomes higher than the other.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) More than £26bn was wiped off the value of Britain's top companieson Tuesday, according to FTSE Group.
  • (2) Cameron also used the speech to lambast one of the central announcements in the budget - raising the top rate of tax for people earning more than £150,000 to 50p from next year.
  • (3) Two years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared Egypt's Nile Delta to be among the top three areas on the planet most vulnerable to a rise in sea levels, and even the most optimistic predictions of global temperature increase will still displace millions of Egyptians from one of the most densely populated regions on earth.
  • (4) Sift the cocoa powder over the top and lightly but thoroughly fold it in with the metal spoon.
  • (5) Autonomy, sense of accomplishment and time spent in patient care ranked as the top three factors contributing to job satisfaction.
  • (6) On Monday, the day after a party congress officially cementing Putin's candidacy in the 4 March presidential election, the top stories on Inosmi concerned modernisation, the eurozone crisis and Iran.
  • (7) Meanwhile, Brighton rock duo Royal Blood top this week's album chart with their self-titled album, scoring the UK's fastest selling British rock debut in three years.
  • (8) Tottenham not interested in topping Arsenal, says Mauricio Pochettino Read more The second half was less frenetic, with the space much tighter and the chances fewer.
  • (9) The night's special award went to armed forces broadcaster, BFBS Radio, while long-standing BBC radio DJ Trevor Nelson received the top prize of the night, the gold award.
  • (10) In a domino effect, everyone got down, one on top of the other.” A 29-year-old woman described blood and flesh that had been blown on to others.
  • (11) After the gunfight the marines made the shocking discovery of bodies of 58 men and 14 women in a room, some piled on top of each other.
  • (12) The announcement of Dame Helen Ghosh's departure from the top job at the Home Office the morning after the Olympics is likely to leave Whitehall looking "maler and paler".
  • (13) After the impact … I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent,” he said in his submission to the panel, which met on Wednesday, a day after Uruguay had beaten Italy 1-0 in a decisive group-stage match.
  • (14) The proportions of malnourished infants in BF+AF and BF groups were similar (3.2% and 2.4%, respectively, in males and 11.8% and 7.9%, respectively, in females) and significantly smaller than among top-fed infants (25% and 100% in males and females, respectively).
  • (15) United and West Ham are on similar runs and can feel pretty happy about themselves but are not as confident away from home as they are at home and that will have to change if they are to make ground on the top teams.
  • (16) In a triple tier configuration, females concentrated 66% of their travel on the top tier.
  • (17) In the Isa world, the past few weeks have seen a flurry of new launches , some offering table-topping rates .
  • (18) One of them got a gold medal in medicine, for being top of the year, but they dropped out for exactly these reasons.” These are not alarmist stories being spread by campaigners.
  • (19) But in the friendlies we tend to give those players a chance to show what they can do at the top level.
  • (20) We believe Oisin has a very exciting future at the BBC.” Clarkson, May and Hammond have signed up to launch a rival show on Amazon’s TV service , while Chris Evans is currently filming a new series of the BBC’s Top Gear show with fellow presenters Matt LeBlanc and Eddie Jordan.

Words possibly related to "top"