Meaning of Topsy | Babel Free

Definitions

Something or someone who figuratively grows without control or intention.

Equivalents

Examples

“They employ a symbolism which grew like Topsy and has little consistency […]”

“Are you implying that it just grew—a Topsy?”

“The town grows like Topsy after the railway age begins. The fortifications are now quite useless since the city has outgrown them.”

“Topsy-like, the Encyclopédie just grew and grew.”

“The paper grew like Topsy. Within two years, we rented the place next door, knocked a door through the brick wall, redid the front to look like a real newspaper office instead of a bunch of fly-by-nighters […]”

“Why has National Strategies been allowed to grow like Topsy in some respects, and at the same time become even more complex, making it difficult for teachers to take in the amount of guidance that they receive?”

CEFR level