Definition of "Topsy"

Topsy

/ˈtɒpsi/

noun
1. Something or someone who figuratively grows without control or intention.
  Quotations
  They employ a symbolism which grew like Topsy and has little consistency […]
  1945, Vannevar Bush, As We May Think
  Are you implying that it just grew—a Topsy?
  1973, J Ryder, Trevayne
  The town grows like Topsy after the railway age begins. The fortifications are now quite useless since the city has outgrown them.
  1996, John H. Macdonald, The free world, page 25
  Topsy-like, the Encyclopédie just grew and grew.
  2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 171
  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 […]
  2006, Jock Lauterer, Community journalism: relentlessly local
  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?
  2009, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Children, Schools and Families Committee, National curriculum: Oral and written evidence (page 232)