level best

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

to do something as well as one can

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

làm việc tốt nhất có thể

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: one's best level of effort
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

I'll do my level best to finish the project on time

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “level best” mean?

to do something as well as one can Literally: one's best level of effort

Is “level best” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.