do best—
1. be most prosperous; achieve the best results, etc.:
- Turnips do best in a cool, well-ventilated area such as a root cellar.
2. (followed by Infinitive) be well-advised to act in a particular way:
- If you want a full overview of this puzzling tale, you would do best to read two new books.
do one’s best—(also: give of one’s best) do all one can; do smth. as well as one can:
- He wasn’t particularly angry. He was looking, or doing his best to look, grave.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase make the best of oneself—make oneself as attractive as possible:
- These letters were full of advice on how to make the best of oneself when just beginning one’s career.