1
general::
adj. comparative of ‘good’ VERBS be, feel, look, seem | get Cars are getting better all the time. | make sth We must make our inner cities better to live and work in. | consider sth, deem sth, judge sth, think sth I thought it better to tackle him outside of business hours. ADV. a damned/darned sight, even, far, a lot, markedly, (very) much, still, substantially, ten/a hundred/a thousand times His latest book is a darned sight better than the one before. | a bit, a good/great deal, a little, marginally, slightly PHRASES no better Charles VII was a bad king, and Charles VIII was no better. | nothing better than There's nothing better than a nice juicy peach! recovered from an illness VERBS be, feel, look, seem | get I hope you get better soon. | get sb, make sb Don't worry. The doctor will soon make you better. | kiss sth Did you hurt yourself? Poor thing?come here and let me kiss it better. ADV. a lot, (very) much | a bit, a good/great deal, a little, slightly
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
2
general::
better
the comparative of good:
• She wants a better job. • The sales figures were far better than expected. • Lucy’s better at French than I am.
superior
better, especially in quality:
• German cars are far superior. • a superior product • He thinks men are superior to women.
preferable
formal more suitable or useful – used when saying which one you prefer:
• Cash would be preferable. • Anything would be preferable to the system we have now.
be an improvement on something
to be better than something that existed before:
• The engine is a huge improvement on previous diesel engines.
have the edge
to be slightly better than another person or thing – used especially when saying which one will win in a game or competition:
• Federer is likely to have the edge in Sunday’s game. • For me, this film has the edge over the others.
be miles ahead (of somebody/something)
( also be streets ahead (of somebody/something) British English ) informal to be very much better than someone or something that you are competing against:
• The company is streets ahead of its rivals.
there’s no comparison
spoken used to emphasize that one person or thing is clearly much better than someone or something else:
• There’s no comparison between the two teams. • ‘Which apartment do you prefer?' 'Well, there’s no comparison. The first one we saw is bigger, quieter, and has much nicer furniture.'
Longman-Thesaurus
3
general::
In addition to the idioms beginning with BETTER, Also see AGAINST ONE'S BETTER JUDGMENT; ALL BETTER; ALL THE BETTER; DISCRETION IS THE BETTER PART OF VALOR; FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE; GET BETTER; GET THE BETTER (BEST) OF; GO ONE BETTER; HAD BETTER (BEST); KNOW BETTER; SEEN BETTER DAYS; SO MUCH THE BETTER; SOONER THE BETTER; TAKE A TURN FOR THE BETTER; THINK BETTER OF; YOU' D BETTER BELIEVE IT. Also see under BEST.
American Heritage Idioms