[best] 
| 1. | of the highest quality, excellence, or standing: the best work; the best students. |
| 2. | most advantageous, suitable, or desirable: the best way. |
| 3. | largest; most: the best part of a day. |
| 4. | most excellently or suitably; with most advantage or success: an opera role that best suits her voice. |
| 5. | in or to the highest degree; most fully (usually used in combination): best-suited; best-known; best-loved. |
| 6. | something or someone that is best: They always demand and get the best. The best of us can make mistakes. |
| 7. | a person's finest clothing: It's important that you wear your best. |
| 8. | a person's most agreeable or desirable emotional state (often prec. by at). |
| 9. | a person's highest degree of competence, inspiration, etc. (often prec. by at). |
| 10. | the highest quality to be found in a given activity or category of things (often prec. by at): cabinetmaking at its best. |
| 11. | the best effort that a person, group, or thing can make: Their best fell far short of excellence. |
| 12. | a person's best wishes or kindest regards: Please give my best to your father. |
| 13. | to get the better of; defeat; beat: He easily bested his opponent in hand-to-hand combat. She bested me in the argument. |
| 14. | all for the best, for the good as the final result; to an ultimate advantage: At the time it was hard to realize how it could be all for the best. Also, for the best. |
| 15. | as best one can, in the best way possible under the circumstances: We tried to smooth over the disagreement as best we could. |
| 16. | at best, under the most favorable circumstances: You may expect to be treated civilly, at best. |
| 17. | get or have the best of,
|
| 18. | had best, would be wisest or most reasonable to; ought to: You had best phone your mother to tell her where you are going. |
| 19. | make the best of, to cope with in the best way possible: to make the best of a bad situation. |
| 20. | with the best, on a par with the most capable: He can play bridge with the best. |
| best (běst) adj. Superlative of good.
To get the better of; beat: "I'm a rough customer, I expect, but I know when I'm bested" (Nathanael West). [Middle English, from Old English betst; see bhad- in Indo-European roots.] Usage Note: According to a traditional rule of grammar, better, not best, should be used in comparisons between two things: Which house of Congress has the better attendance record? This rule is often ignored in practice, but it still has many devoted adherents. In certain fixed expressions, however, best is used idiomatically for comparisons between two: Put your best foot forward. May the best team win! See Usage Notes at have, rather. |
Best (běst), Charles Herbert. 1899-1978.
American-born Canadian physiologist noted for the discovery and successful clinical application of insulin.
