Better

Definition: Better

Better

Adjective

1. (comparative of `good') superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another; "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din"; "a better coat"; "a better type of car"; "a suit with a better fit"; "a better chance of success"; "produced a better mousetrap"; "she's better in math than in history".

2. (comparative of `good') changed for the better in health or fitness; "her health is better now"; "I feel better".

3. (comparative and superlative of `well') wiser or more advantageous and hence advisable; "it would be better to speak to him"; "the White House thought it best not to respond".

4. More than half; "argued for the better part of an hour".

Adverb

1. Comparative of `well'; in a better or more excellent manner or more advantageously or attractively or to a greater degree etc.; "She had never sung better"; "a deed better left undone"; "better suited to the job".

2. From a position of superiority or authority; "father knows best"; "I know better.".

Noun

1. One having claim to precedence; a superior: "the common man has been kept in his place by his betters".

2. Something better: "I expected better of him".

3. Someone who bets.

4. The superior one of two alternatives: "chose the better of the two".

Verb

1. Surpass in excellence; "She bettered her own record"; "break a record".

2. To make better; "The editor improved the manuscript with his changes".

3. Get better; "The weather improved toward evening.".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "better" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Literature

Tips from 1870

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Better

Improvement

Render better, improve, mend, amend, better; ameliorate, meliorate; correct; decrassify.

Inexpedience

Good, good as gold; excellent; better; superior; above par; nice, fine; genuine; (true).

Crosswords: Better

Frisian (better), Pidgin English (better).

So you'd better go. (A Time to Kill; writing credit: Akiva Goldsman)

Better make it two. (Fletch; writing credit: Andrew Bergman)

Evildoers are easier, and they taste better. (Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; writing credit: Anne Rice)

Not to appear facetious, sir, but you had better tell that to a judge (Sleuth; writing credit: Anthony Shaffer)

Goin' through some mighty rough country tomorrow, you'd better have some beans (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; writing credit: B. Traven; John Huston)

Do you think you're better off alone (Better Off Alone; performing artist: Alice Deejay)

Nobody does it better, sometimes I wish someone could (NOBODY DOES IT BETTER; performing artist: CARLY SIMON)

Sometimes it's better to let it all go (Better Love Next Time; performing artist: Dr. Hook)

You better be good to me (BETTER BE GOOD TO ME; performing artist: Tina Turner)

It better be (Speed Kills; performing artist: 10CC)

Better bend than break. (references; author: Scottish Proverb)

Utah: Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus (references; author: unknown)

It's lonely at the top, but you eat better. (references; author: unknown)

Availability is better than ability for God. (references; author: unknown)

Positive anything is better than negative nothing. (references; author: unknown)

A purely rural duel truly plural is better than a purely plural duel truly rural. (references; author: unknown)

Betty better butter Brad's bread. (references; author: unknown)

Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better. (references; author: unknown)

Wetter weather never weathered wetter weather better. (references; author: unknown)

Daddy Kiss it Better (1968)

Better Housing for British Columbia (1967)

Tomorrow Shall Be Better (1965)

Our Children Will Know Each Other Better (1960)

Nature's Better Built Homes (1960)

Things Can Only Get Better (performing artist: Howard Jones)

I'm Getting' Better (performing artist: Jim Reeves)

Luv U Better (performing artist: LL Cool J)

Better Man (performing artist: Pearl Jam)

Should've Known Better (performing artist: Richard Marx)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

References

• Better Life Co., Ltd.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

• The World Market for Weighing Machinery and Weight-Operated Counting and Checking Machines Excluding Balances of 5 cg or Better and Personal and Household Scales: A 2004 Global Trade Perspective (reference)

  (more reference examples)

Books

• Expectations Investing: Reading Stock Prices for Better Returns (reference)

• Strategies for Better Thinking: An Advanced Model for Internal and External Performance Consultants (reference)

• Fighter's Fact Book: Over 400 Concepts, Principles, and Drills to Make You a Better Fighter (reference)

• Better Brochures, Catalogs, and Mailing Pieces (reference)

• Make the Connection : 10 Steps to a Better Body-And a Better Life (audio CD) (reference)

  (more book examples)

Periodicals

• Annual Report : Council On Better Business Bureaus (reference)

• Better Business Bureau Of Nova Scotia Newsletter (reference)

• Better Crops With Plant Food (reference)

• Better Digital (reference)

• Better Families (reference)

  (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies

• A Better Tomorrow (reference)

• Better Off Dead (reference)

• The Spike Lee Collection (Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, and Crooklyn) (reference)

• Better Than Chocolate - Director's Cut (reference)

• Gymnastics: Tumbling: How to do a Better Back-Handspring (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Better Dayz (Clean) (reference)

• Better Dayz [EXPLICIT LYRICS] (reference)

• You Better Sit Down (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech

• Bosanova 1040 By Better Online Solutions (reference)

  (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

White woman from neck to waist wearing a bra, indicating breast reconstruction post mastectomy. Surgery enables women to have a better self image, looking good in clothes, and facilitating psychological readjustment. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer).

In an unprecedented effort to better the conditions and opportunities for women in ... Credit: NASA.

There!!! That's better. This time the buoy is staying above water Buoy in Golden Gate - Alcatraz Island in background. Photo #2 of sequence. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

Friends of the sailor helping make a glorious day better Dolphin playing in the bow wave of the NOAA Ship PEIRCE Ship anchor fluke in lower left of photo. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

This boat has seen better days. Credit: America's Coastlines.

Setting foot on Antarctic soil ( maybe ice would be a better term.). Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth.

Fishermen use bridge while passing truck tows boat in search of better fishing. Credit: Fisheries.

Barren Island before the planting. The work at Barren Island provided a valuable lesson. Geotubes were placed around the perimeter of the island to form a wave break but they failed and the dredge material was washed away behind the tubes. Wave breaks in the future will be constructed of rock, which is more expensive, but a better alternative. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center.

A close-up view of the tide gate from the Delaware River side shows the flat valves near low tide. The water is flowing out of Army Creek, the tide gates are open and debris that plugs the openings can be clearly seen. The restoration work will target modification of the flood gates to allow better passage for anadromous species. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center.

NSSL's second Doppler Weather Radar, 15 miles west of Oklahoma City. Researchers used this radar and the Norman Doppler radar to study thunderstorms. Doppler radar gave better estimates of winds within storms than earlier radars. Credit: National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL).

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Since, moveover, for God and the amendment of our kingdom and for the better allaying of the quarrel that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted all these concessions, desirous that they should enjoy them in complete and firm endurance forever, we give and grant to them the underwritten security, namely, that the barons choose five and twenty barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they will, who shall be bound with all their might, to observe and hold, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted and confirmed to them by this our present Charter, so that if we, or our justiciar, or our bailiffs or any one of our officers, shall in anything be at fault towards anyone, or shall have broken any one of the articles of this peace or of this security, and the offense be notified to four barons of the foresaid five and twenty, the said four barons shall repair to us (or our justiciar, if we are out of the realm) and, laying the transgression before us, petition to have that transgression redressed without delay. (reference)

Thus we read of the thirty tyrants at Athens, as well as one at Syracuse; and the intolerable dominion of the Decemviri at Rome was nothing better. (Second Treatise of Government)

The French Government, on their part, are anxious to protect the interests of the French territories concerned, and, with that object, having their special situation in view, they bear in mind the desirability of assuring them a suitable customs regime and determining, in a manner better suited to present conditions, the methods of exchanges between these territories and the adjacent Swiss territories, while taking into account the reciprocal interests of both regions. (reference)

Prevention is better than cure. ("Iron Curtain" Speech)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Better pass it off as a joke

She came to admire him so much that his love for her affected her own self-esteem: She liked herself better because of him.

The other is the assumption that, if one of two specified acts is better than another, it is necessarily a good act in itself

Scrooge was better than his word

Providence had meditated better things for me than I could possibly imagine for myself

Fantine joined the crowd and began to laugh with the rest at this harangue, in which were mingled slang for the rabble and jargon for the better sort

It would be better to be in the studyhall than out there in the cold

Nothing but songs of death? [He strikes him] There, take thou that till thou bring better news

Maybe we better look around

The King, who had a much better understanding, dismissing his learned men, sent for the farmer, who by good fortune was not yet gone out of town

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

Hearing better is worth the effort. (references)

Better methods of platelet preservation. (references)

Develop better drugs for immunosuppression. (references)

Business

Another point is a better cost/productivity ratio. (references)

Imported products may provide wider choices and better quality. (references)

Through careful planning a traveler can often find even better deals. (references)

Children

Uganda

Boys also are more likely to finish primary school and perform better on the PLE. (references)

Costa Rica

The PANI attributed the increase in cases reported to better reporting capabilities and an increase in patterns of child abuse. (references)

Ecuador

In June 2000, the city of Guayaquil began a modest program to give persons with disabilities better access to public buildings. (references)

Civil Liberties

Kenya

Muslims complain that non-Muslims receive better treatment when requesting citizenship documents. (references)

Georgia

Stations desiring benefits and better working relations with authorities practiced self-censorship. (references)

Yugoslavia

Most families have moved three times or more in search of better schooling or employment opportunities. (references)

Discrimination

Syria

Party or government connections can pave the way for entrance into better elementary and secondary schools, access to lucrative employment, and greater power within the Government, the military, and the security services. (references)

Slovak Republic

The committee completed its assignment in December, and found that the Penal Code sufficiently addresses antidiscrimination concerns, but both improved legislation protecting civil rights and better implementation of the legislation was needed. (references)

Economic History

Malaysia

Large factories generally do better. (references)

Human Rights

Haiti

They are usually better armed than local police. (references)

Congo

Prisoners also pay bribes to receive better treatment. (references)

Mexico

Federal prosecutors usually are paid better than state prosecutors. (references)

Indigenous People

Venezuela

In late 1999, in an out-of-court settlement the Government pledged, among other commitments, to provide better security and to carry out health care projects in the area. (references)

Indonesia

Papuans complain of racism, religious bias, paternalism, and condescension as constant impediments to better relations with non-Papuans, including members of the Government, the military, and the non-Papuan business community. (references)

Minorities

Georgia

Father Mkashvilli warned them that they were building a Satanist house and that they better stop their work. (references)

Political Economy

IRELAND

Suppliers of electricity have fared better than those in the gas sector. (references)

INDIA

U.S. investors generally offer better than prevailing wages, benefits, and work conditions. (references)

Congo

The Government allowed humanitarian organizations better access to areas under its control. (references)

Political Rights

Vietnam

Women are better represented in the National Assembly, where more than one-fourth of the 450 members are women. (references)

Malaysia

For the November 1999 elections, the Election Commission changed some procedures to allow better monitoring by Election Commission officers. (references)

Peru

In December 2000, the 120-member Congress approved the creation of multiple district representation for electing members to Congress, which was designed to provide better geographic representation. (references)

Trade

Burma

Private banks are generally more efficient and provide better service than state banks. (references)

Argentina

Comments: Government agency under the Ministry of Economy, roughly equivalent to the U.S. Better Business Bureau. (references)

Bulgaria

Thus foreign-owned firms have equal or better investment opportunity in the zones as compared to Bulgarian firms. (references)

Travel

Israel

It is often better to have these photocopied cards than no cards at all. (references)

Indonesia

Most of the better hotels have English-speaking staff, as do the shopping centers that cater to expatriates. (references)

Egypt

Your top experienced executive with knowledge of the area will do a better job with the Egyptian business community. (references)

Women

Nicaragua

According to a 1998 report, women have equal or somewhat better access to education than men, especially in urban areas. (references)

Italy

Employed women do better in higher education; the comparable figures for a university degree are 13.8 percent for women and 9.4 percent for men. (references)

Antigua and Barbuda

Although the Government pledged to provide better family planning services, educational opportunities, and job training, it has been slow to implement new programs. (references)

Worker Rights

India

Safety conditions tend to be better in the EPZ's. (references)

Ghana

Most actions involved demands for higher wages and better benefits. (references)

Philippines

Typically the conditions they work under are better than those faced by citizens. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Better

Expressions using "better": a change for the better ♦ a sight better ♦ All the better ♦ all the better for ♦ be better ♦ be better for ♦ be better of ♦ be better off ♦ be better than one's word ♦ better advised ♦ better and better ♦ better angel ♦ better beyond measure ♦ better days ♦ better face ♦ better for ♦ better half ♦ better hand ♦ better known ♦ better land ♦ better late than never ♦ Better Logic Using Expert Software ♦ better loved ♦ better luck next time! ♦ better off ♦ better oneself ♦ better part ♦ better part of ♦ better part of smth. ♦ better safe than sorry ♦ better than ♦ better than anybody ♦ better to hear ♦ by far better ♦ change for the better ♦ do better ♦ do better than ♦ even better ♦ far better ♦ feel better ♦ feel miles better ♦ for better for worse ♦ for better or worse ♦ For the better ♦ get better ♦ get the better ♦ get the better of ♦ get the better of smb. ♦ get the better out of ♦ get up the better ♦ getting better ♦ go one better ♦ go one better than ♦ go one better than smb. ♦ go one better than smb. in ♦ great deal better ♦ had better ♦ half a loaf is better than no bread ♦ have seen better days ♦ he knows better ♦ heaps better ♦ i am all the better for it ♦ i feel better now ♦ i know better ♦ i like her the better ♦ in order to see better ♦ in the better conditions ♦ Interjection: hurrah! Huzza! aha! hail! tolderolloll! Heaven be praised! io triumphe! tant mieux! so much the better ♦ it is better that ♦ it is better to be safe than sorry ♦ it would be better ♦ know better ♦ know better than ♦ know better than to ♦ like better ♦ make better ♦ make smth. better ♦ my better half ♦ no better than ♦ no better than a swindler ♦ no better than before ♦ on better acquaintance ♦ on better advice ♦ only better than nothing ♦ or better still ♦ prevention is better than cure ♦ push for better condition ♦ so much the better ♦ something better ♦ take a turn for the better ♦ take for better or for worse ♦ the better hand ♦ the better part of ♦ the better part of smth. ♦ the gray mare the better horse ♦ the more the better ♦ the sooner the better ♦ think better of ♦ think better of it ♦ think better of smb. ♦ think better of smth.. Additional references.

Beginning with "better": better-adapted, better-armed, better-balanced, better-ball, better-behaved, better-bred, better-bring, better-built, better-class, better-connected, better-defended, better-defined, better-designed, better-developed, better-directed, better-disposed, better-documented, better-drained, better-drawn, better-dressed, better-educated, better-engineered, better-equipped, better-fancied, better-fed, better-fitting, better-funded, better-groomed, better-heeled, better-housed, better-information, better-informed, better-kept, better-known, better-lit, better-looking, better-loved, better-managed, better-mannered, better-off, better-ordered, better-organised, better-paid, better-paying, better-placed, better-prepared, better-preserved, better-protected, better-qualified, better-quality, better-read, better-resourced, better-run, better-served, better-sized, better-sounding, better-spoken, better-stocked, better-structured, better-suited, better-supported, better-tasting, better-than-average, better-than-equal, better-than-expected, better-than-nodding, better-than-normal, better-than-ordinary, better-than-usual, better-the, better-to-do, better-to-eat-you-with, better-told, better-trained, better-used, better-value, better-waged.

Ending with "better": ever-better.

Containing "better": clear the better-box, girls-are-better-than-boys, infinitely-better-than-pearl, prevention-is-better-than-cure.

Afrikaans

beter. (various references)

Albanian

përmirësoj (ameliorate, amend, cultivate, elevate, enrich, grade, improve, meliorate, mend, polish, reclaim, refine, reform, strengthen, upgrade), më mirë (as well, instead, preferably, rather), më i mirë (best, superior, superlative), më i madh (elder, eldest, imperial, major, maximal, maximum, more, ranking). (various references)

Arabic 

افضل (best), ‏حسن (advantage, alter, ameliorate, amend, beautiful, elaborate, extend, fine, handsome, improve, innovate, like better, make efficient, ok, okay, okey, perfect, polish, pretty, reclaim, reform, season, upgrade, well), ‏الشئ الأفضل, ‏أفضل (best, leading, preferable, right, superior, top), ‏أكبر (bigger, chief, greater, major, maximal, plus, utmost), ‏أحسن (best, bestead). (various references)

Basque

hobe. (various references)

Breton

gwelloc'h. (various references)

Bulgarian 

надминавам (bang, beat, exceed, outbalance, outdo, outgo, outreach, outrun, outstrip, out-top, outweigh, overmatch, overpass, overreach, pass, surpass, top, transcend), по-хубаво, по-голям (bigger, major), повече (again, any longer, any more, longer, more, no more), по-подходящ, по-добър, подобрявам се здравословно, подобрявам (ameliorate, amend, get better, help, improve, improve on, make better, meliorate, mend, perfect, polish, polish up, rehabilitate, remedy, smarten up), по-добре (preferably, superiorly). (various references)

Catalan

millor. (various references)

Chinese 

較好 , 更好 (more), 愈 (heal, the more...the more, to recover), 比较好 (better-off, Finer, Nicer), 強 (force, power, powerful, strength), 寧願 (would rather). (various references)

Croatian

bolje. (various references)

Czech

zlepšit (ameliorate, brighten up, enhance, jazz, rectify, reform, uplift), víc, výhodnìjší (preferable), radìji (rather), polepšit se (change for the better, reform), přiléhavìjší, překonat (beat, bridge, clear, conquer, eclipse, exceed, Excel, get the better of, go beyond, heal, outdo, overcome, refute, surmount, surpass, tide over), nìco lepšího, lepší (preferable, superior), lépe. (various references)

Danish

bedre. (various references)

Dutch

beter (rather). (various references)

Esperanto

pli bona. (various references)

Estonian

parem. (various references)

Farsi 

کسی که شرطمی بندد (Bettor), شرطبندی کننده (Bettor, Wager). (various references)

Finnish

parempi (superior). (various references)

Flemish

beter. (various references)

French

meilleur (best), mieux (best). (various references)

French Canadian

mieux. (various references)

Frisian

better. (various references)

Galician

mellor. (various references)

German

besser (preferably, superior, superiorly). (various references)

Greek 

καλύτερα, καλύτεροσ (best, optimum), καλύτερος από