better

• (non-rhotic accents) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛtə/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛtʰə]
  • (General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA^(key): [ˈbeɾə]
  • (Cockney, As well as some younger speakers in the UK) IPA^(key): [ˈbeʔə]
• (rhotic accents) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛtəɹ/
  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛɾɚ]
  • (Ireland) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛtʰɚ~ˈbɛθ̠ɚ~ˈbɛt̪ɚ]
  • (Scotland) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛʔɚ~ˈbɛʔəɾ]
• (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: bet‧ter

From Middle English better, bettre, betre, from Old English betera (“better”), from Proto-Germanic *batizô (“better”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰed-rós, from *bʰed- (“good”). Cognate with Sanskrit भद्र (bhadrá, “blessed, fortunate, happy, good”). For Germanic cognates: see Proto-Germanic *batizô. Related to best and battle (“getting better, improving, fruitful, fertile”). Compare also Icelandic batna (“to improve”), bót (“improvement”), German besser. More at batten, boot.

better (positive good, adverb well, comparative (humorous) betterer, superlative (humorous) betterest, or (standard) best)

1. comparative form of good: more good
   • 2002 November 1, “Shindig”, in Firefly, episode 4:

     Badger: You think you're better than other people.
     Mal: Just the ones I'm better than.

2. comparative form of well: more well
3. Greater in amount or quantity
   • 1972, Harvey Andrews, Hey Sandy

     “The air was still with the lonely thrill of 'now the hour is near' / And the smell of sweat was better yet than the awful stench of fear.”

• betta
• bettuh
• betther
• sometimes humorously elongated, like: betterererer, betterererererer

better

1. comparative form of well: more well

   The engine runs better now that I've given it some oil.

   • c. 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act I scene iii:

     I could never better stead thee than now. […]

   • 1901, Louis Couperus, Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (translator), Small Souls,

     “I’ve had enough of cycling with you chaps. I can spend my Sundays better than in tormenting cats and quarrelling and fighting.”

2. More, in reference to value, distance, time, etc.

   ten miles and better

3. (colloquial shortening) Had better.

   You better do that if you know what's good for you.

• better the devil you know
• had better
• 'd better

better (plural betters)

1. An entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior.

   He quickly found Ali his better in the ring.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Hooker

     Their betters would hardly be found.

• get the better of

From Middle English beteren, from Old English beterian, betrian, from Proto-Germanic *batizōną. Cognate with West Frisian betterje (“to better”), Dutch beteren (“to better”), German bessern (“to better”), Danish bedre (“to better”), Swedish bättra (“to better”).

better (third-person singular simple present betters, present participle bettering, simple past and past participle bettered)

1. (transitive) To improve.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Wordsworth

     Love betters what is best.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Thackeray

     He thought to better his circumstances.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Macaulay

     the constant effort of every man to better himself

2. (intransitive) To become better; to improve.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Carlyle to this entry?)

3. (transitive) To surpass in excellence; to exceed; to excel.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Hooker

     The works of nature do always aim at that which can not be bettered.

4. (transitive) To give advantage to; to support; to advance the interest of.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     Weapons more violent, when next we meet, / May serve to better us and worse our foes.

• See also Thesaurus:improve

• betterer
• betterment

Alternate pronunciation of bettor or modern formation from the verb to bet.

better (plural betters)

1. Alternative spelling of bettor

• better at OneLook Dictionary Search
• better in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

• botter, bötter (Eifel)

From Old High German bittar

• IPA^(key): /ˈbetʌ/

better (masculine bettere, feminine better, comparative betterer, superlative et' betterste)

1. (most dialects) bitter

   Mösse es e better Krock.

   To be obliged is a bitter herb. (A proverb.)

From Old English betere.

better

1. Alternative form of bettre

better

1. Alternative form of bettre

better

1. Alternative form of bettre

From Old English beterian.

better

1. Alternative form of beteren

From Middle English bettre, from Old English betera, from Proto-Germanic *batizô.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɛtər]

better

1. comparative degree of guid

better (comparative mair better, superlative maist better)

1. better
2. quite recovered from illness
3. more than

better (uncountable)

1. that which is better, something better or superior

better (third-person singular present betters, present participle betterin, past bettert, past participle bettert)

1. to better, improve

better

1. inflection of goed:
   1. predicative comparative degree
   2. indefinite neuter singular comparative degree