Dictionary

get the better of en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To overwhelm or overcome.
   • Thomas Tuchel got the better of his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola for the third time since succeeding sacked Frank Lampard in January to bring European club football's biggest prize back to Stamford Bridge for the first time since 2012. 2021 May 29, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
   • Adam said, "My temper got the better of me, and I said things as wasn't true." 1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 28, in Adam Bede […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:
   • Many people returned to work a bit anxious, they acknowledged, but grimly determined not to let terrorists get the better of them. 2005 July 8, Eric Pfanner, “With Characteristic Fortitude, Britons Carry On”, in New York Times, retrieved 02 Sep 2008:
   • Though this sort of thing went on every other night or very near it still Stephen's feelings got the better of him in a sense though he knew that Corley's brandnew rigmarole on a par with the others was hardly deserving of much credence. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:
2. (idiomatic, transitive) To trick or con.
   • I won't let you get the best of me How'd my heart become my enemy? I won't let you get the best of me How'd my heart become my enemy? 2015 May 12, Rachel Platten, Dave Bassett, Brian West, “Beating Me Up”, in Fight Song, performed by Rachel Platten:
3. (idiomatic, transitive) To gain an advantage over or regarding.
   • He got the better of him early in the match, but ended up losing.
   • With Jones and Botterman hoovering up penalties at the breakdown, Ward and Maud Muir putting the brakes on France's rolling maul and Cokyane waving off her opposite number after getting the better of a scrum, England were winning plenty of battles. 2025 September 20, Mike Henson, “Kildunne stars as England see off France to make final”, in BBC Sport:
   • So long as the intellectual gets the better of the general argument, the most valid objections of the specific issue will be brushed aside. 1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 426:

Forms

Relateds

have the better of (gain an advantage)

Synonyms

better · overpower · defeat

Translations (17)

it prendere il sopravvento (to overwhelm or overcome) · hu felülkerekedik (to overwhelm or overcome) · de deklassieren (to overwhelm or overcome) · ru одержать верх (to overwhelm or overcome) · ru взять верх (to overwhelm or overcome) · es aventajar (to overwhelm or overcome) · hu úrrá lesz (to overwhelm or overcome) · pl brać górę (to overwhelm or overcome) · fr avoir raison de (to overwhelm or overcome) · de jemanden in die Knie zwingen (to overwhelm or overcome) · fi päihittää (to overwhelm or overcome) · hu erőt vesz (to overwhelm or overcome) · es ventajear (to overwhelm or overcome) · de jemanden am Arsch kriegen (to overwhelm or overcome) · ru одолеть (to overwhelm or overcome) · pl wziąć górę (to overwhelm or overcome) · fr prendre le dessus (to overwhelm or overcome)