BEST


Meaning of BEST in English

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.

Best is the superlative of good .

If you want further information the ~ thing to do is have a word with the driver as you get on the bus...

It’s not the ~ place to live if you wish to develop your knowledge and love of mountains.

2.

Best is the superlative of well .

James Fox is ~ known as the author of White Mischief.

3.

The ~ is used to refer to things of the highest quality or standard.

We offer only the ~ to our clients...

He’ll have the ~ of care.

? worst

N-SING: the N

4.

Someone’s ~ is the greatest effort or highest achievement or standard that they are capable of.

Miss Blockey was at her ~ when she played the piano...

One needs to be a first-class driver to get the ~ out of that sort of machinery.

N-SING: oft poss N

5.

If you say that something is the ~ that can be done or hoped for, you think it is the most pleasant, successful, or useful thing that can be done or hoped for.

A draw seems the ~ they can hope for...

The ~ we can do is try to stay cool and muddle through.

N-SING: the N

6.

If you like something ~ or like it the ~, you prefer it.

The thing I liked ~ about the show was the music...

Mother liked it ~ when Daniel got money...

What was the role you loved the ~?

= most

ADV: ADV after v, oft the ADV

7.

Best is used to form the superlative of compound adjectives beginning with ‘good’ and ‘well’. For example, the superlative of ‘well-known’ is ‘~-known’.

8.

see also second ~ , Sunday ~

9.

You can say ‘All the ~’ when you are saying goodbye to someone, or at the end of a letter.

Wish him all the ~, and tell him we miss him.

CONVENTION formulae

10.

You use ~ of all to indicate that what you are about to mention is the thing that you prefer or that has most advantages out of all the things you have mentioned.

It was comfortable and cheap: ~ of all, most of the rent was being paid by two American friends.

PHRASE: PHR with cl/group

11.

If someone does something as ~ they can, they do it as well as they can, although it is very difficult.

The older people were left to carry on as ~ they could.

PHRASE: V inflects, PHR after v

12.

You use at ~ to indicate that even if you describe something as favourably as possible or if it performs as well as it possibly can, it is still not very good.

This policy, they say, is at ~ confused and at worst non-existent...

PHRASE: PHR with cl/group

13.

If you do your ~ or try your ~ to do something, you try as hard as you can to do it, or do it as well as you can.

I’ll do my ~ to find out...

It wasn’t her fault, she was trying her ~ to help...

PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to-inf

14.

If you say that something is for the ~, you mean it is the most desirable or helpful thing that could have happened or could be done, considering all the circumstances.

Whatever the circumstances, parents are supposed to know what to do for the ~.

PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR

15.

If two people are the ~ of friends, they are close friends, especially when they have had a disagreement or fight in the past.

Magda is now married to George Callerby and we are the ~ of friends.

PHRASE: usu v-link PHR

16.

If you say that a particular person knows ~, you mean that they have a lot of experience and should therefore be trusted to make decisions for other people.

He was convinced that doctors and dentists knew ~.

PHRASE: V inflects

17.

If you make the ~ of something, you accept an unsatisfactory situation cheerfully and try to manage as well as you can. In British English, you can also say that you make the ~ of a bad job.

She instilled in the children the virtues of good hard work, and making the ~ of what you have.

PHRASE: V inflects

18.

to the ~ of your ability: see ability

to hope for the ~: see hope

to the ~ of your knowledge: see knowledge

~ of luck: see luck

the ~ part: see part

at the ~ of times: see time

the ~ of both worlds: see world

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .