best

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Of the highest quality; better than all others.

   It was the best film of the year.

2. 2
   adv

   In the most excellent way; better than anything else.

   This is the dish she cooks best.

3. 3
   noun

   The greatest effort that someone can make.

   They tried hard and did their best.

4. 4
   verb

   To defeat or do better than someone.

   Our team managed to best the champions.

Common collocations

• best friend Adjective + noun
• best wishes Adjective + noun

From Middle English best, beste, from Old English betst, 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, Norwegian Nynorsk best (“best”), Swedish bäst (“best”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (batists, “best”).

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