Translation better in the English-French Collins dictionary

better

adj comparative

(=superior) meilleur(e)
→ The results were better than expected.
→ There's nothing better than a cup of hot coffee.
→ You're no better than she is!
This one's better than that one.  Celui-ci est meilleur que celui-là.
a better way to do it  une meilleure façon de le faire
that's better!  c'est mieux comme ça!
→ That's better, it's more the colour of grass now.
better still  encore mieux
Go and see her tomorrow, or better still, go today.  Va la voir demain, ou encore mieux, vas-y aujourd'hui.
it would be better to ...  il vaudrait mieux ...
→ It would be better to wait till tomorrow.
→ I think it would be better to wait and see what happens.
to be better doing sth   (=better off) avoir avantage à faire qch
→ You are better eating just a small snack than hurrying a main meal
→ Wouldn't it be better putting a time-limit on the task?
You're better waiting till tomorrow.  Tu aurais avantage à attendre jusqu'à demain.

to get better   (=recover)
[sick person] se remettre, se rétablir
→ The doctors said there wasn't much hope of me getting better.
→ Don't worry, you'll soon get better.
I hope you get better soon.  J'espère que tu vas vite te remettre.
(=improve)
[person, situation] s'améliorer
→ The match started off pretty badly, but it got better.
→ She's a good teacher, and getting better all the time.
I hope the weather gets better soon.  J'espère que le temps va s'améliorer bientôt.
My French is getting better.  Mon français s'améliore.
to be better   [sick person, patient] aller mieux
→ I'm much better, thank you.

adv

(=in a better way) mieux
→ Some people can ski better than others.
→ I'd like to be able to draw better.
→ She sings better than him.

to feel better   [person] se sentir mieux
→ She felt better after telling her Mum about it.
Are you feeling better now?  Tu te sens mieux maintenant?

you'd better, you had better, You'd better do it straight away.  Vous feriez mieux de le faire immédiatement.
→ You'd better see a doctor.
→ You'd better run if you want to get there in time.
I'd better go home.  Je ferais mieux de rentrer.
I had better go.  Il vaudrait mieux que je m'en aille.

to like better   (=prefer) préférer
→ They liked it better when it rained.
to like sth/sb better than  préférer qch/qn à
→ I always liked you better than Sandra.

to know better than sb en savoir plus que qn

to know better than to do sth bien se garder de faire qch

to go one better faire mieux

the better to do sth (=so as to) pour mieux faire qch
→ As I sat back, the better to appreciate my efforts

(=exceed)
[+figures, record] améliorer
→ We have bettered last year's figures.
→ He recorded a time of 4 minutes 23, bettering the old record of 4-24.
[+score] battre
→ She has bettered his score of 217.

to better o.s. (=improve) s'améliorer, améliorer sa condition
→ They go to evening classes to try to better themselves.

to get the better of sb [jealousy, anger] l'emporter sur qn
My curiosity got the better of me. Ma curiosité l'a emporté.
[competitor, opponent] triompher de qn

a change for the better  une amélioration
to change for the better   (=get better) s'améliorer
→ Things have recently changed for the better.
to change sth for the better  améliorer qch
→ He dreams of changing the world for the better.

to think better of it changer d'opinion, se raviser
→ Alberg opened his mouth, as if to protest. But he thought better of it.

all the better, so much the better tant mieux

for better or worse, for better or for worse pour le meilleur ou pour le pire

the bigger the better  le plus grand le mieux
the sooner the better  le plus tôt le mieux
the smaller the better  le plus petit le mieux