Meanings
plural wooden-tops · alternative woodentop
- UKidiomaticinformalA uniformed police officer.
Immediately a big wooden-top came in. He was young and blond.
1988, Derek Raymond, The Devil's Home on Leave, Ballantine Books, page 1511 more example
It is Detective Chief Superintendent Cohn Harpur, one of the bosses, but just a wooden-top like all the rest.
1991, Bill James, The Lolita Man, W. W. Norton & Company, page 41Synonyms: police officer
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA uniformed police officer.
Origin
The expression may be a reference to the wooden construction of a bobby's custodian helmet.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
wooden-top. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wooden-top
“wooden-top.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wooden-top. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wooden-top,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wooden-top.
Source: wooden-top on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.