bested
- 1Simple past and past participle of best.
The young challenger bested the reigning champion in three close rounds.
By the end of the season, the rookie had bested every team in the league.
Note
One regular -ed form does double duty here: she bested him, she has bested him, and, in the passive, he was bested. It belongs to the transitive verb of surpassing or beating someone, so it needs an object or a passive subject. The same spelling also serves the old "helping" verb, whose meaning runs almost opposite to defeat.
- 2bi-STED/bɪˈstɛd/Alternative form of bestead. Archaic.
Note
Here the word is about helping, not beating: to assist someone, to serve or avail them, or to stand in their place. Bestead's adjective uses are older still. "Placed in a situation, beset" is archaic, and "provided, furnished" is obsolete. Readers will hear the past of best first, so bestead is the safer spelling when help is meant.
bested is a form of best
best, verb: Ought to; used as a reduced form of 'had best' to give firm advice or a warning. Full entry
- Spelling
- best → bested: add -ed
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /ɪd/, an extra syllable.
Practice
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