best effort
- noun
- She always puts forth her best effort in everything she does, no matter how challenging.
- give best effort
- make best effort
- put forth best effort
Yet despite people's best efforts, Atlantis is still missing.
- Yet despite people's best efforts, Atlantis is still missing.
- Sometimes, despite our best efforts in life, we don't get what we want.
- What they handed me was not their best effort.
- With I did it, I tried my best and I gave my best effort.
- As we've seen, that doesn't really actually happen despite, you know, humankind's best efforts to to realize it.
- Where the investment bank doesn't buy it and doesn't promise anything they say, we'll make our best efforts to place this offering.
- I hope you guys still keep watching and still keep subscribing because I'm putting my best effort into this new setup.
- God deserves all of that favor he's poured on you to see you pay it back with your best effort in serving him.
- And it certainly doesn't mean that the real lives they affect don't deserve our best efforts to grapple with the transformations underway.
- I'm not like, I don't want to condone you not giving it your best effort, but you can only give it what you're willing to give it.
Examples
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Despite her best efforts, she was not able to control the pulling at home.
Academic text (2008) -
And despite our best efforts, the world believed him.
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So for me, success is that I put my best effort in, right?
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So I think it's important to give it your best effort for yourself as a human being and for your soul.
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I require only that they give it their best effort and their full attention.
Fiction book (2002) -
We believe that strongly, and we make our best effort to find out about it as soon as possible and to give help.
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Despite our best efforts to save him, Alex Murphy passed away just hours ago.
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Sometimes, despite our best efforts in life, we don't get what we want.
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Despite our best efforts, I think you're gonna be alright.
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Willard Heath gave his best efforts for 38 years to promote the art and science of photography.
Academic text (2001)
Synonyms
A try using all your effort
A very strong effort that someone makes to do something
The most effort you can make
A great effort to try as hard as possible
To try as hard as possible
The greatest effort a person can make
The hardest effort someone can give
Antonyms
How Effortful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is a direct composition of 'best' (greatest) + 'effort' (attempt/energy spent), so the meaning 'the greatest amount of effort' is immediately derivable from the constituents. This adjective+noun pattern is common and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand the MWE.
Etymology
Best effort comes from the simple image of using your best, your strongest effort, like someone pushing a heavy box with all their strength. That's why it means 'the greatest amount of effort' someone can give.