Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

1 N‑COUNT The best of breed is the animal that wins first prize in its section at a dog show. □  The Queen's Trophy is presented to the best of breed Welsh corgi each February.

2 ADJ Best of breed products or services are the most successful products or services in a particular area. □  Gerstner transformed most of the company into a best of breed systems integration provider.

be|stow /b I stoʊ / (bestows , bestowing , bestowed ) VERB To bestow something on someone means to give or present it to them. [FORMAL ] □ [V n + on/upon ] The Queen has bestowed a knighthood on him. [Also V on/upon n n]

be st pra c|tice N‑UNCOUNT Best practice is the way of running a business or providing a service that is recognized as correct or most effective. □  Schools will work together to share best practice.

be|stride /b I stra I d/ (bestrides , bestriding , bestrode , bestridden ) VERB To bestride something means to be the most powerful and important person or thing in it. [LITERARY ] □ [V n] America's media companies bestride the globe.

be st se ll|er (best sellers ) also bestseller N‑COUNT A best seller is a book of which a lot of copies have been sold.

be st-se lling also bestselling

1 ADJ [ADJ n] A best-selling product such as a book is very popular and a large quantity of it has been sold.

2 ADJ [ADJ n] A best-selling author is an author who has sold a very large number of copies of his or her book.

bet ◆◇◇ /be t/ (bets , betting ) The form bet is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle. 1 VERB If you bet on the result of a horse race, football game, or other event, you give someone a sum of money which they give you back with extra money if the result is what you predicted, or which they keep if it is not. □ [V + on ] Jockeys are forbidden to bet on the outcome of races. □ [V amount + on ] I bet £10 on a horse called Premonition. □ [V n amount] He bet them £500 they would lose. ● N‑COUNT Bet is also a noun. □ [+ on ] Do you always have a bet on the Grand National? ●  bet|ting N‑UNCOUNT □  …his thousand-pound fine for illegal betting. □  …betting shops.

2 N‑COUNT A bet is a sum of money which you give to someone when you bet. □  You can put a bet on almost anything these days.

3 VERB [only cont] If someone is betting that something will happen, they are hoping or expecting that it will happen. [JOURNALISM ] □ [V that] The party is betting that the presidential race will turn into a battle for younger voters. □ [V + on ] People were betting on a further easing of credit conditions.

4 → see also betting

5 PHRASE You use expressions such as ' I bet ', ' I'll bet ', and ' you can bet ' to indicate that you are sure something is true. [INFORMAL ] □  I bet you were good at games when you were at school. □  I'll bet they'll taste out of this world.

6 PHRASE If you tell someone that something is a good bet , you are suggesting that it is the thing or course of action that they should choose. [INFORMAL ] □  Your best bet is to choose a guest house.

7 PHRASE If you say that it is a good bet or a safe bet that something is true or will happen, you are saying that it is extremely likely to be true or to happen. [INFORMAL ] □  It is a safe bet that the current owners will not sell.

8 PHRASE If you hedge your bets , you follow two courses of action to avoid making a decision between two things because you cannot decide which one is right. □  NASA is hedging its bets and adopting both strategies.