best
Part of speech: adj
adv
noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English best, beste, from Old English bezt, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots best (“best”), Cimbrian peste, péste (“best”), Dutch best (“best”), German beste (“best”), Yiddish בעסט (best, “best”), Danish bedst (“best”), Faroese bestur (“best”), Icelandic bestur, beztur (“best”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk best (“best”), Swedish bäst (“best”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (batists, “best”).
Inflected forms:
form: bester
pos: adj
tags: comparative
humorous
nonstandard
form: bestest
pos: adj
tags: humorous
nonstandard
superlative
form: bests
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: bests
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: besting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: bested
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: bested
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: best
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: best
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: bested
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: best
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: bested
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: bests
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: bested
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: best
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: bested
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: best
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: bested
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: best
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: besting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: bested
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
Senses:
gloss: Most; largest.
pos: adj
examples: Unpacking took the best part of a week.
gloss: Most superior; most favorable.
pos: adj
examples: In my opinion, mushrooms are the best pizza toppings.
gloss: To the most advantage; with the most success, cause, profit, benefit, or propriety.
pos: adv
examples: You'd best save a backup copy, just in case the morons lose the one that you sent and then try to act like you never sent one.
Had I not best go to her?
gloss: The supreme effort one can make, or has made.
pos: noun
tags: often
uncountable
examples: I did my best.
My personal best in that race is eighteen minutes, four seconds.
Home defender Per Mertesacker had to be at his best to stop a dangerous cross from Vassilis Torossidis reaching Djebbour, but moments later Arsenal doubled their lead through Santos.
gloss: One's best behavior.
pos: noun
tags: often
uncountable
examples: I was somewhat distant lately, and my lady promised me head every Tuesday of the week when I’m nice to her, so I better be on my best.
gloss: The person (or persons; or thing or things) that is (are) most excellent.
pos: noun
tags: countable
often
examples: Even the best of us makes mistakes, but only a few with the best of intentions...
We're (the) best of friends, who fortunately enjoy the best of health.
I love it so much! It's the best.
Mel Gussow reviews the bests of off off Broadway
But in true Cincinnati style, the bests consistently outnumber the worsts.
There are the bests for each institution, the bests for coalitions, and, of course, the bests for the group as a whole.
If he's one of the bests, he should be fighting the bests, NOT the pipitsugins.
gloss: To surpass in skill or achievement.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To beat in a contest.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The Norddeutscher Lloyd steamship Kronprinz Wilhelm left New York on May 3 [1904], at 3.10 p.m. and reached Plymouth Sound on May 9 at 8 a.m. This was then a very fast crossing of the Atlantic, but it was not the record. The same ship had held the "Blue Riband" in 1902, but had been slightly bested by the Kaiser Wilhelm II, a larger vessel of the same line, in 1903, and that stood as the record until the Cunard Line secured the honours in 1909 with the Mauretania and held them for an unbroken period of 20 years.
"You did not win because I was sloppy. You bested me, Uncle. I've never seen you fight like that before.”
Synonyms: optimal
all that and a bag of chips
antelope's cantaloupes
ant's pants
bee's knees
bollocks
cat's ass
cat's meow
cat's pajamas
cat's pyjamas
cat's whiskers
cream of the crop
crème de la crème
da bomb
dog's bollocks
dog's dangly bits
finger-lickin' good
finger-licking good
flea's eyebrows
fox's socks
greatest thing since sliced bread
gold standard
kitty's titties
llama's pajamas
mutt's nuts
ne plus ultra
spider's ankles
the bomb
the business
the shit
the tits
Antonyms: worst
baddest
Related words: best off
good
excellent
better
bestest
Derived words: accidents will happen in the best regulated families
alderbest
as best as one can
at one's best
attack is the best form of defence
attack is the best form of defense
at the best
at the best of times
best and fairest
best ball
best before
best-before date
best before date
best bet
best bib and tucker
best bitter
best bower
best boy
best-by date
best-case
best-case scenario
best case scenario
best efforts
best end
bester
bestest
best evidence rule
best form lens
best friend
best friend forever
best gal
best girl
best in class
best-kept secret
Best Korea
best laid plans
best maid
best man
bestness
best of
best-of
best of both worlds
best of breed
best of British
best of British luck
best off
best of luck
best of the bunch
best on ground
best-paid
best parlour
best part of
best pleased
best practice
best regards
bestseller
best-seller
best-selling
bestshoring
best thing since sliced bread
best thing since sliced pan
best wishes
come off second best
'd best
diamonds are a girl's best friend
do one's best
experience is the best teacher
failure is the best teacher
for best
for the best
give it one's best shot
give one's best
have the best of it
he laughs best that laughs last
he who laughs last laughs best
honesty is the best policy
hunger is the best pickle
hunger is the best sauce
hunger is the best seasoning
hunger is the best spice
inference to the best explanation
it happens to the best of us
laughter is the best medicine
line of best fit
live one's best life
look one's best
make the best of a bad bargain
make the best of a bad job
make the best of one's way
man's best friend
of the best water
outbest
put one's best foot foremost
put one's best foot forward
revenge is a dish best served cold
save the best for last
second best
six of the best
sum of best
Sunday best
Sunday-best
sunlight is the best disinfectant
take one's best shot
the best defence is attack
the best defense is a good offense
the best is the enemy of the good
the best laid plans of mice and men go oft astray
the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry
the best things in life are free
the best things in life aren't things
the next best thing
third best
to the best of one's knowledge
wife's best friend
with the best
with the best of them
with the best will in the world
work best under pressure
first best
level best
personal best
hope for the best, prepare for the worst
unbested
all for the best
all the best
as best one can
at best
best of the best
for one's best
get the best of
had best
have the best of
make the best of
the best part of
Translations: