know better


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know better

To be aware or capable of better or smarter behavior than one has demonstrated. You know better than to talk to strangers! What were you thinking? You know better than to try to question that professor—he doesn't care what we have to say.
See also: better, know

know better (than to do something)

to be wise enough, experienced enough, or well trained enough not to have done something wrong. Mary should have known better than to accept a lift from a stranger. Children should know better than to play in the road.
See also: better, know

know better

Be able to recognize something as wrong or not possible, as in Mary should know better than to leave her child alone in the house, or Try to get in without a ticket? You know better than that. [c. 1700]
See also: better, know

know ˈbetter (than that/than to do something)

be sensible enough not to do something: You left the car unlocked? I thought you’d know better. ♢ He knows better than to judge by appearances.
See also: better, know
References in periodicals archive ?
Jack took a swig of 'is ale an' replahd: "Aye they reckon 'e does know better.
Ken meets 'is match
Maybe, after all, there are only three kinds of people in this world: those who are dumb enough to think there are only three kinds of people in this world, those who are smart enough to know better, and those who are cunning enough to profit off the former.
The Celestine Prophecy
R) Now You Know Better $1,000,000 Game Show gives consumers the chance to showcase their knowledge about things they should know better about, including how to live a healthier lifestyle.
Omarosa Admits to Knowing Better, Confesses in Online Vignette
Amyl nitrate is the only drug gay people can claim to know better than straight people," wrote journalist Karen West.
(06.30.76) archives: a drug of our own
Although both Machiavelli and the Mafia counsel keeping your enemies close, veteran bureaucrats know better.
You'll just love Timbuktu
I never allowed my wife to work, never tried drugs, never indulged in heavy drinking, and have always been disappointed in mankind -- especially those who are educated and should know better.
Restorationist Rebellion. (Letters to the Editor)
You Know Better by Tina McElroy Ansa William Morrow & Co.
You Know Better. (fiction reviews)
Future parents may know better when that dash will begin, if a report in the May Nature Medicine proves accurate.
Hormonal clock predicts premature births
R) Now You Know Better $1,000,000 Game Show live against Diamond and other "know better heads.
Dustin Diamond Admits to Knowing Better, Confesses in Online Vignette
They know better than to seek outright independence -- previous efforts at breakup have been quashed by the anti-education education establishment.
EDITORIAL A MINI BREAKUP
Though it's uncertain how many people the playful porpoise has tried to, uh, get to know better, the resort's former public relations rep has revealed to us that at one point Club Med faced several lawsuits from women claiming they were victims of JoJo's unwanted affection.
No, no, JoJo!
While public officials extol the virtues of "consumer choice" in a free-market health-care system, large private firms know better.
Privatization blues
He and Purdue graduate student Feng Bin Wang now know better.
Gut counts calories even when we do not
It's not as if we don't know better, for themilitary has gone through this drill before.
Nuts, bolts, & death
R) Now You Know Better $1,000,000 Game Show live against Gary Coleman and other "know better heads.
Newlywed Gary Coleman Admits to Knowing Better, Confesses in Online Video
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