level best

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English

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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level best (plural level bests)

  1. (idiomatic) The very best that one can do.
    • 1885 September, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Solomon’s Road”, in King Solomon’s Mines, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, [], published 1887, →OCLC, page 102:
      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.
    • 1920, John Galsworthy, “Dartie versus Dartie”, in In Chancery (The Forsyte Saga; 2), London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, part II, page 186:
      Val walked out behind his mother, chin squared, eyelids drooped, doing his level best to despise everybody.
    • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 13: Nausicaa]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, [], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 341:
      ―Say papa, baby. Say pa pa pa pa pa pa pa. / And baby did his level best to say it for he was very intelligent for eleven months everyone said and big for his age and the picture of health, a perfect little bunch of love, and he would certainly turn out to be something great, they said.
    • 2022 October 16, Jenna Scherer, “An Enticing House of the Dragon Crowns Westeros’ New Ruler”, in The A.V. Club[1], archived from the original on 2022-10-28:
      The king-to-be is sulking in a carriage beside his mother, who’s doing her level best to prepare her son for what’s to come.

Translations

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See also

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References

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