"Best" meaning in English

See Best in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

IPA: /bɛst/ Audio: en-us-best.ogg [US] Forms: Bests [plural]
Rhymes: -ɛst Etymology: From German Beste (“a river in Germany”) or from Anglo-Norman beste (“beast”). Etymology templates: {{der|en|de|Beste||a river in Germany}} German Beste (“a river in Germany”), {{der|en|xno|beste||beast}} Anglo-Norman beste (“beast”) Head templates: {{en-proper noun|~|s}} Best (countable and uncountable, plural Bests)
  1. A surname. Tags: countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-Best-en-name-EMUC1F3L Categories (other): English surnames
  2. A village and municipality in North Brabant province, Netherlands. Tags: countable, uncountable Categories (place): Municipalities of North Brabant, Netherlands, Places in North Brabant, Netherlands, Places in the Netherlands, Villages in North Brabant, Netherlands, Villages in the Netherlands
    Sense id: en-Best-en-name-7B5PQCh0 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 36 64 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 36 64 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 35 65

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Beste",
        "4": "",
        "5": "a river in Germany"
      },
      "expansion": "German Beste (“a river in Germany”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "xno",
        "3": "beste",
        "4": "",
        "5": "beast"
      },
      "expansion": "Anglo-Norman beste (“beast”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From German Beste (“a river in Germany”) or from Anglo-Norman beste (“beast”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Bests",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~",
        "2": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "Best (countable and uncountable, plural Bests)",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English surnames",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              7,
              11
            ],
            [
              208,
              212
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026 March 12, “US officer having a ‘mild anxiety attack’ took ambulance meant for man shot by police”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2026:",
          "text": "Dyshan Best, 39, was shot in the back last year as he fled from officers in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A report released this week by the state’s inspector general found that the shooting was justified because Best had a gun in his hand and the officer pursuing him had reasons to fear for his own safety.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A surname."
      ],
      "id": "en-Best-en-name-EMUC1F3L",
      "links": [
        [
          "surname",
          "surname"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "place",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Municipalities of North Brabant, Netherlands",
          "orig": "en:Municipalities of North Brabant, Netherlands",
          "parents": [
            "Municipalities",
            "Places"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "place",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Places in North Brabant, Netherlands",
          "orig": "en:Places in North Brabant, Netherlands",
          "parents": [
            "Places"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "place",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Places in the Netherlands",
          "orig": "en:Places in the Netherlands",
          "parents": [
            "Places"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "place",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Villages in North Brabant, Netherlands",
          "orig": "en:Villages in North Brabant, Netherlands",
          "parents": [
            "Villages",
            "Places"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "place",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Villages in the Netherlands",
          "orig": "en:Villages in the Netherlands",
          "parents": [
            "Villages",
            "Places"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "36 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "36 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 65",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A village and municipality in North Brabant province, Netherlands."
      ],
      "id": "en-Best-en-name-7B5PQCh0",
      "links": [
        [
          "village",
          "village"
        ],
        [
          "municipality",
          "municipality"
        ],
        [
          "North Brabant",
          "North Brabant#English"
        ],
        [
          "Netherlands",
          "Netherlands#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɛst/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-best.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/En-us-best.ogg/En-us-best.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/En-us-best.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛst"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Best"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English proper nouns",
    "English terms derived from Anglo-Norman",
    "English terms derived from German",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛst",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛst/1 syllable"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Beste",
        "4": "",
        "5": "a river in Germany"
      },
      "expansion": "German Beste (“a river in Germany”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "xno",
        "3": "beste",
        "4": "",
        "5": "beast"
      },
      "expansion": "Anglo-Norman beste (“beast”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From German Beste (“a river in Germany”) or from Anglo-Norman beste (“beast”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Bests",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~",
        "2": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "Best (countable and uncountable, plural Bests)",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English surnames",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              7,
              11
            ],
            [
              208,
              212
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026 March 12, “US officer having a ‘mild anxiety attack’ took ambulance meant for man shot by police”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2026:",
          "text": "Dyshan Best, 39, was shot in the back last year as he fled from officers in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A report released this week by the state’s inspector general found that the shooting was justified because Best had a gun in his hand and the officer pursuing him had reasons to fear for his own safety.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A surname."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "surname",
          "surname"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Municipalities of North Brabant, Netherlands",
        "en:Places in North Brabant, Netherlands",
        "en:Places in the Netherlands",
        "en:Villages in North Brabant, Netherlands",
        "en:Villages in the Netherlands"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A village and municipality in North Brabant province, Netherlands."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "village",
          "village"
        ],
        [
          "municipality",
          "municipality"
        ],
        [
          "North Brabant",
          "North Brabant#English"
        ],
        [
          "Netherlands",
          "Netherlands#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɛst/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-best.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/En-us-best.ogg/En-us-best.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/En-us-best.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛst"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Best"
}

Download raw JSONL data for Best meaning in English (2.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-05-27 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-05-01 using wiktextract (4997730 and 9380997). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.