do one's best

Idioms  

1. Also,. Perform as well as one can, do the utmost possible, as in I'm doing my best to balance this statement, or She did her level best to pass the course, or He did his damnedest to get done in time. The first term dates from the 16th century, but the addition of level, here meaning “very,” occurred only in the mid-1800s; the variant dates from the late 1800s.

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Example Sentences

Johnny’s tentative dip into family life artfully captures the tedium, terror and confounding ecstasy of parenthood, but it more eloquently conveys the pain and discovery involved in simply trying to do one’s best.

From Washington Post • Nov. 22, 2021

Striving to do one’s best is laudable and certainly a part of military training and leadership, but there is a lot more to military leadership than doing one’s best.

From MSNBC • Dec. 12, 2015

But in Judaism, there are two conditions for repentance: one must go in genuine contrition to the person sinned against, and one must do one's best to compensate for the wrong done.

From Time Magazine Archive

One must do one's best for the poor, I know—for conscience' sake and all that; it's our duty, and we all try hard to do it.

From Hilda Wade, a Woman with Tenacity of Purpose by Allen, Grant

One must of course do one's best to resist immoral, low, sensuous tendencies; but otherwise I believe that one ought to drink as much as one's glass can hold of pure and beautiful influences.

From The Altar Fire by Benson, Arthur Christopher

Related Words

• aspire
• bid for
• strive
• take pains
• undertake