top dog

noun

: a person, group, or thing in a position of authority especially through victory in a hard-fought competition

Examples of top dog in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Voters narrowed the field down to the top dog during the three preliminary polls. Vincent Medina, Idaho Statesman, 16 Jan. 2025 LeBron seems motivated to prove that while Luka might be the future, LeBron is presently still top dog. Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2025 Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Dog Man was the top dog Thursday night with $881K, +4% from Wednesday for a first week of $40.4M. Heart Eyes’ previews are on par with Companion‘s $1.1M Thursday previews a week ago. Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 8 Feb. 2025 So, the question: Which team is currently the true top dog in this town from an interest standpoint, the Dodgers or the Lakers? Jim Alexander, Orange County Register, 7 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for top dog

Word History

First Known Use

1900, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of top dog was in 1900

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Cite this Entry

“Top dog.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/top%20dog. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

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