- of the highest quality, excellence, or standing: the best work; the best students.
- most advantageous, suitable, or desirable: the best way.
most: the best part of a day.
adv., [superl. of]well [with]better [as compar.]
- most excellently or suitably;
with most advantage or success: an opera role that best suits her voice.
- in or to the highest degree;
most fully (usually used in combination): best-suited; best-known; best-loved.
- as best one can, in the best way possible under the circumstances: We tried to smooth over the disagreement as best we could.
- had best, would be wisest or most reasonable to;
ought to: You had best phone your mother to tell her where you are going.
- something or someone that is best: They always demand and get the best. The best of us can make mistakes.
- a person's finest clothing: It's important that you wear your best.
- a person's most agreeable or desirable emotional state (often prec. by at).
- a person's highest degree of competence, inspiration, etc. (often prec. by at).
- the highest quality to be found in a given activity or category of things (often prec. by at): cabinetmaking at its best.
- the best effort that a person, group, or thing can make: Their best fell far short of excellence.
- a person's best wishes or kindest regards: Please give my best to your father.
- 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.
- at best, under the most favorable circumstances: You may expect to be treated civilly, at best.
- get or have the best of:
- to gain the advantage over.
- to defeat;
subdue: His arthritis gets the best of him from time to time.
- make the best of, to cope with in the best way possible: to make the best of a bad situation.
- with the best, on a par with the most capable: He can play bridge with the best.
- to get the better of;
beat: He easily bested his opponent in hand-to-hand combat. She bested me in the argument.
Babyba•by (bā′bē),USA pronunciation n., pl. -bies, adj., v., -bied, -by•ing.
- an infant or very young child.
- a newborn or very young animal.
- the youngest member of a family, group, etc.
- an immature or childish person.
- a human fetus.
- [Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive.]a girl or woman, esp. an attractive one.
- a person of whom one is deeply fond;
- (sometimes cap.) an affectionate or familiar address (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., esp. by a male to a female).
- a man or boy;
fellow: He's a tough baby to have to deal with.
- an invention, creation, project, or the like that requires one's special attention or expertise or of which one is especially proud.
- an object;
thing: Is that car there your baby?
- of or suitable for a baby: baby clothes.
- of or like a baby;
infantile: baby skin.
comparatively little: a baby car.
- treating babies: a baby doctor.
- to treat like a young child;
- to handle or use with special care;
Highhigh (hī),USA pronunciation adj., -er, -est, adv., -er, -est, n.
- having a great or considerable extent or reach upward or vertically;
tall: a high wall.
- having a specified extent upward: The apple tree is now 20 feet high.
- situated above the ground or some base;
elevated: a high platform; a high ledge.
- exceeding the common degree or measure;
intense: high speed; high color.
dear: The price of food these days is much too high.
- exalted in rank, station, eminence, etc.;
of exalted character or quality: a high official; high society.
- acute in pitch.
- a little sharp, or above the desired pitch.
- produced by relatively rapid vibrations;
shrill: the high sounds of crickets.
- extending to or from an elevation: a high dive.
- great in quantity, as number, degree, or force: a high temperature; high cholesterol.
main: the high altar of a church.
- of great consequence;
the high consequences of such a deed;
arrogant: He took a high tone with his subordinates.
- advanced to the utmost extent or to the culmination: high tide.
merry or hilarious: high spirits; a high old time.
luxurious: They have indulged in high living for years.
- intoxicated with alcohol or narcotics: He was so high he couldn't stand up.
- remote: high latitude; high antiquity.
- extreme in opinion or doctrine, esp. religious or political: a high Tory.
- designating or pertaining to highland or inland regions.
- having considerable energy or potential power.
- of, pertaining to, or operating at the gear transmission ratio at which the speed of the engine crankshaft and of the drive shaft most closely correspond: high gear.
- (of a vowel) articulated with the upper surface of the tongue relatively close to some portion of the palate, as the vowels of eat and it, which are high front, and those of boot and put, which are high back. Cf. close (def. 58), low 1 (def. 30).
- (of meat, esp. game) tending toward a desirable or undesirable amount of decomposition;
slightly tainted: He likes his venison high.
- containing a relatively large amount of a specified constituent (usually used in combination): high-carbon steel.
- [Baseball.](of a pitched ball) crossing the plate at a level above the batter's shoulders: The pitch was high and outside.
- having greater value than other denominations or suits.
- able to take a trick;
being a winning card.
- being or having a winning combination: Whose hand is high?
- noting a wind of force 10 on the Beaufort scale, equal to a whole gale.
- high on, enthusiastic or optimistic about;
having a favorable attitude toward or opinion of.
- at or to a high point, place, or level.
- in or to a high rank or estimate: He aims high in his political ambitions.
- at or to a high amount or price.
- in or to a high degree.
extravagantly: They have always lived high.
- as close to the wind as is possible while making headway with sails full.
- fly high, to be full of hope or elation: His stories began to sell, and he was flying high.
- high and dry:
- (of a ship) grounded so as to be entirely above water at low tide.
- in a deprived or distressing situation;
stranded: We missed the last bus and were left high and dry.
- high and low, in every possible place;
everywhere: The missing jewelry was never found, though we searched high and low for it.
- high gear: He shifted into high when the road became level.
- See high school.
- a pressure system characterized by relatively high pressure at its center. Cf. anticyclone, low1 (def. 48).
- a high or the highest point, place, or level;
peak: a record high for unemployment.
- a euphoric state induced by alcohol, drugs, etc.
- a period of sustained excitement, exhilaration, or the like: After winning the lottery he was on a high for weeks.
- [Cards.]the ace or highest trump out, esp. in games of the all fours family.
- on high:
- at or to a height;
- in heaven.
- having a high position, as one who makes important decisions: the powers on high.
- to place or seat in a chair.
- to install in office.
- to preside over;
act as chairperson of: to chair a committee.
- to carry (a hero or victor) aloft in triumph.
- to preside over a meeting, committee, etc.
Picturespic•ture (pik′chər),USA pronunciation n., v., -tured, -tur•ing.
- a visual representation of a person, object, or scene, as a painting, drawing, photograph, etc.: I carry a picture of my grandchild in my wallet.
- any visible image, however produced: pictures reflected in a pool of water.
- a mental image: a clear picture of how he had looked that day.
- a particular image or reality as portrayed in an account or description;
- a tableau, as in theatrical representation.
- See motion picture.
- pictures, Informal (older use). movies.
- a person, thing, group, or scene regarded as resembling a work of pictorial art in beauty, fineness of appearance, etc.: She was a picture in her new blue dress.
- the image or perfect likeness of someone else: He is the picture of his father.
- a visible or concrete embodiment of some quality or condition: the picture of health.
- a situation or set of circumstances: the economic picture.
- the image on a computer monitor, the viewing screen of a television set, or a motion-picture screen.
- to represent in a picture or pictorially, as by painting or drawing.
- to form a mental picture of;
imagine: He couldn't picture himself doing such a thing.
- to depict in words;
describe graphically: He pictured Rome so vividly that you half-believed you were there.
- to present or create as a setting;