top one's boom

verb

To depart quickly.

Meanings

verbtop one's boom (third-person singular simple present tops one's boom, present participle topping one's boom, simple past and past participle topped one's boom)

present singular third person tops one's boom · participle present topping one's boom · participle past topped one's boom · past topped one's boom

  1. To depart quickly.

    Her husband had topped his boom, and so had his Lordship.

    1862, Chartley Castle, Harold Overdon, ashore and afloat, page 98
    2 more examples

    With my usual luck I found that the castle would not be open until three o'clock, as it was now noon I did not care to wait all that time, so "topping my boom" we went on to Tonbridge Wells by a hilly road.

    1880, Nauticus, Nauticus on his hobby horse, or the adventures of a sailor during a tricycle cruise of 1427 miles

    So, buoyant with the hope of being able to make up for my increased expenditure by happy speculations in the share market, I at once topped my boom, and without a single misgiving for the future got quickly under way.

    2007, William Stamer, Recollections of a Life of Adventure - Volume 1, →ISBN, page 128

Origin

Originally referring to maximizing the sail on a ship.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

top one's boom. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/top%20one's%20boom

MLA

“top one's boom.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/top%20one's%20boom. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “top one's boom,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/top%20one's%20boom.

Source: top one's boom on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.