Word.ws English Dictionary

get the best of

get the best of is the alternative form of get the better of.

Meaning of get the better of

Verb

get the better of (third-person singular simple present gets the better of, present participle getting the better of, simple past got the better of, past participle (UK) got the better of or (US) gotten the better of)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To overwhelm or overcome.
    • Adam said, "My temper got the better of me, and I said things as wasn't true."1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 28, in Adam Bede […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    defeat, overpower, better
  2. (idiomatic, transitive) To trick or con.
    • I won't let you get the best of me
      How'd my heart become my enemy?
      I won't let you get the best of me
      How'd my heart become my enemy?2015 May 12, Rachel Platten, Dave Bassett, Brian West, “Beating Me Up”, in Fight Song, performed by Rachel Platten
  3. (idiomatic, transitive) To gain an advantage over or regarding.
    • He got the better of him early in the match, but ended up losing.

Forms of get the best of

third-person singular presentgets the best of
present participlegetting the best of
pastgot the best of
past participle UKgot the best of
past participle USgotten the best of

Questions about get the best of

What is get the best of the alternative form of?
Get the best of is the alternative form of get the better of.

Words near get the best of in the dictionary

  1. get stuffed
  2. get sturdy
  3. get taken in
  4. get the ball rolling
  5. get the band back together
  6. get the best of
  7. get the better of
  8. get the bird
  9. get the boot
  10. get the bulge on
  11. get the bullet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: get the best of (page history and authors); get the better of (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “get the best of.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/get_the_best_of. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.