From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe best/better part of somethingthe best/better part of somethingMOSTnearly all of something We waited for the best part of an hour. → part
Examples from the Corpus
the best/better part of something• Converse drank the better part of the rum.• Another child makes the family wretched with his crying for the better part of an hour.• This was it, the confrontation-point which he had been dreading for the best part of a week.• For the better part of the next forty years they were to be the decisive restraints.• Almost any child will assert that recess is the best part of the school day.• I spent the better part of my time moping around the house, too dejected to think about practicing my stunts.• It is not widely taught or particularly popular be-cause it takes the better part of a lifetime to master. 