level best
5
4.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
mejor esfuerzo
- She always does her level best to support her teammates during matches.
- try their level best
I basically felt like I got up in the morning and I did my level best and then I went to sleep and then I woke up and repeated the exercise.
- I basically felt like I got up in the morning and I did my level best and then I went to sleep and then I woke up and repeated the exercise.
Examples
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Your Honor, I took an oath to do my level best, and I meant it.
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- "He did his level best."
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And if You cannot, we know that You will have done Your level best.
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There was a young man who tried his level best to clear his exams at university, but he repeatedly failed.
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When a publisher of a magazine pays me to fill a page, I do my level best to fill it.
Blog text (22) -
I didn't ask to be disabled, and I am doing my level best.
Blog text (6) -
We should follow Krauthammer's lead and do our level best to keep it in circulation.
Blog text (16) -
I have no complaints—it was a great effort put on by people trying their level best.
Blog text (5) -
We have a doctor and a psych nurse practitioner who get people's meds straight, and we do our level best to get them stable before we discharge them to community services, which are thin and inconsistent.
Blog text (24) -
Despite the difficulties, he offered his level best in every challenge he faced.
Synonyms
72
3.2
A try using all your effort
22
2.4
A strong attempt someone makes to succeed at something
7
9.1
A very strong effort that someone makes to do something
4
3.6
The greatest effort someone can make
1
9.1
To try as hard as possible
1
1.0
The greatest effort a person can make
1
8.1
The greatest possible amount or degree of something
How Hard
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core meaning 'greatest effort' is clearly signaled by 'best', but 'level' here functions as an idiomatic intensifier rather than its literal sense of 'stage' or 'flatness', so the exact phrasing is not fully compositional. A B1 learner who knows 'best' and the common pattern 'do one's best' can probably infer the meaning from context, but the non-literal contribution of 'level' makes it only partially predictable.
Etymology
Level best may come from the picture of raising your effort to the highest level and giving your best there. So doing your level best means giving the 'greatest effort' you can.