From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtopictop‧ic /ˈtɒpɪk $ ˈtɑː-/ ●●● S3 W2 AWL noun [countable] SUBJECTa subject that people talk or write about The environment is a popular topic these days.topic of We shall return to the topic of education in Chapter 7.topic of conversation/debate etc The wedding has been the only topic of conversation for weeks. The main topic for discussion will be the proposed new supermarket. a wide range of topicsCOLLOCATIONSphrasesa topic of conversationHer favourite topic of conversation is herself.a topic of discussion/debateThe issue is a topic of great debate in the record industry.adjectivesthe main topicThe main topics covered are finance, health and leisure.an important topicThe legal team will discuss a number of important topics.a hot topic (=one that a lot of people are discussing or arguing about)Gangs and drugs are the hot topics in this district.a controversial topic (=one that causes a lot of disagreement, because many people have strong opinions about it)Abortion is one of the most controversial topics in America today.a sensitive topic (=one that must be dealt with very carefully, because it may offend people)It is unusual for a judge to speak publicly about a sensitive topic such as religion. verbscover a topicThe book covers such topics as business strategy and marketing.discuss a topicWe discussed a range of topics.raise/bring up a topic (=start talking about it)It’s still a very difficult topic to raise.leave a topic (=stop talking about it)Before we leave this topic, may I add one more thing.
Examples from the Corpus
topic• The variation across topics showed a spread of 13 to 63 percent.• Ideas about cross-curricular links and the possibilities for topic work can also be shared.• The law student is not expected to learn every single rule in every single legal topic.• Taxes and the budget are obvious topics as Republicans fashion an economic agenda for the national convention.• It is characteristic of most research writing that topic areas are set off, underlined or otherwise made highly visible.• Given the topic of this book, you might expect a bias in favor of finding behavior-driven performance challenges.• They will accept a lot of that but they want to pick the topic.• Type the topic into the search field, and let the browser search all relevant sites.• Dole's absence was the topic of radio talk shows.topic of• Griggs addressed the topic of sex education in schools.From Longman Business DictionaryTOPICTOPIC /ˈtɒpɪkˈtɑː-/ nounFINANCECOMPUTING (Teletext Output of Price Information on Computer) a computer system used on the London Stock Exchange which gives information on share prices, currency exchange rates etcWhen a bargain has been struck the TOPIC price displays are altered to show the last trades made.Origin topic (1400-1500) Latin Topica “Topics”, book by the ancient Greek thinker Aristotle, from Greek Topika, from topikos “of a place, of a useful quotation”, from topos “place, useful quotation” 