level best

noun
/ˌlɛvl̩ ˈbɛst/UK

Etymology

From level (“well balanced; even, steady”) + best.

  1. inherited from *batistaz
  2. inherited from betst
  3. inherited from best
  4. compounded as level best — “level + best

Definitions

  1. The very best that one can do.

    • Then came a pause, each man aiming his level best, as indeed one is likely to do when one knows that life itself depends upon the shot.
    • Val walked out behind his mother, chin squared, eyelids drooped, doing his level best to despise everybody.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for level best. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA