How to Use big top in a Sentence

big top

noun
  • So, how can young people now dream of running away to a life under the big top?
    — CBS News, 14 June 2018
  • With the help of one of the three elephants, the beams are pulled into place and the big top rises.
    — Mary Ann Ashcraft, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 8 May 2021
  • Telma became a dancer, drawing gasps and laughs on the floor under the big top.
    — Nina Strochlic, National Geographic, 27 July 2020
  • When the lights darkened inside of the big top, kids cheered and waved flashing light wands around the arena.
    — Vincent Davis, ExpressNews.com, 14 Nov. 2020
  • Lichtenbaum bought a bag of peanuts for a nickel and entered the big top with his sister.
    — Daniela Altimari, courant.com, 7 July 2019
  • When the big top is raised, the workers clamber and flip with acrobatic flair.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 4 June 2026
  • Shows take place under the big top tent in the parking lot of Florence Mall.
    — Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 15 Sep. 2021
  • Sarasota High School had a circus, a real one, with a big top and rings and a trapeze.
    — Lane Sainty, The Arizona Republic, 6 Aug. 2022
  • Guests flood into the big top, their faces illuminated by bright spotlights.
    — Nina Strochlic, National Geographic, 27 July 2020
  • Forty-four of the hotel’s rooms will be larger suites, with the biggest topping out at around 1,200 square feet.
    — Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2018
  • Workers use sledgehammers to pound stakes for the big top, then toss the sledgehammers to each other in a sort of juggling routine.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 4 June 2026
  • The Pixel 4 has a lopsided front design with a big top bezel and a smaller (but still there) bottom bezel.
    — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 16 Oct. 2019
  • Australian law enforcement now alleges the circus school was not a venue for big top entertainment but a horror show.
    — Kyle Swenson, Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2018
  • Worse, Gilead’s big top line means that developing new drugs big enough to meaningfully boost sales has gotten tougher.
    — Charley Grant, WSJ, 10 Dec. 2018
  • Harden’s delayed start to the season and subsequent trade request was only icing on the circus big top.
    — Jeff McDonald, ExpressNews.com, 16 Dec. 2020
  • The newest post on the company blog is all about the Pixel 4's big top bezel and the tech goodies contained within.
    — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 29 July 2019
  • The circus is coming to town, but the shenanigans happening under this big top aren’t the typical clown, juggler and trapeze acts.
    — Richard Guzman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Dec. 2023
  • As the Georgia primaries are likely to demonstrate, sometimes the circus moves on and the chief clown is left behind where the big top used to stand.
    — Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 24 May 2022
  • According to eyewitness accounts, the 48-foot tall big top burned in less than 10 minutes.
    — Dave Altimari, courant.com, 7 Oct. 2019
  • There are less than 40 people total—who set up the big top, sell the tickets and concessions, perform the acts—everything.
    — National Geographic, 15 Dec. 2020
  • The Circus Vargas big top is back in San Diego after a pause longer than a year due to the pandemic.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2022
  • The clown’s job was to offer something extraordinary to keep circus crowds in their seats and to entice sideshow visitors back to the big top for the main events.
    — Time, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The daring circus families who for 146 years performed death-defying acts under the big top tents.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 19 May 2022
  • In the big top heyday of the ’50s and ’60s, circus animals were viewed as exciting and glamorous.
    — Carolyn Wells, Longreads, 11 June 2021
  • Bennett was gloriously over the top in the Belvedere big top on Friday, the first of her two nights to kick off the new normal at Crooners.
    — Jon Bream, Star Tribune, 24 Apr. 2021
  • His adolescent daughter Louise was standing beneath a big top in a rural French town preparing to enter the center ring.
    — April White, JSTOR Daily, 18 Aug. 2025
  • This is not the first time this anthology series, from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, has visited the big top for scares.
    — James Poniewozik, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2017
  • As borders closed, Cirque had to race to load big top equipment on to giant cargo planes and repatriate 2,000 employees.
    — Dan Bilefsky, New York Times, 17 May 2020
  • The animal-free experience features circus arts under a traditional big top tent.
    — Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2025
  • The animal-free experience features circus arts under a traditional big top tent.
    — Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'big top.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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