better of

the better of (someone or something)

Superiority, mastery, or an advantage over someone or something; control over someone or something. I know we could have beaten them in last week's game, but they just got the better of us from the get-go. I knew I shouldn't be meddling in other people's business, but my curiosity got the better of me.
See also: better, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*better of someone

 and *the best of someone
triumph over someone. (*Typically: get ~; have ~.) Bill got the best of John in the boxing match. I tried to get the better of Tom in the golf match, but he won anyway.
See also: better, of
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • be in line with (someone or something)
  • be/have done with somebody/something
  • (someone or something) promises well
  • begin with
  • begin with (someone or something)
  • bird has flown, the
  • beware of
  • beware of (someone or something)
  • be rough on (someone or something)
  • bear off from (someone or something)
References in classic literature
Stryver (after notifying to his jackal that "he had thought better of that marrying matter") had carried his delicacy into Devonshire, and when the sight and scent of flowers in the City streets had some waifs of goodness in them for the worst, of health for the sickliest, and of youth for the oldest, Sydney's feet still trod those stones.
Tale Of Two Cities
"The Better of the 'It Gets Better' Parodies." Splitsider.
On children's literature and the (Im)possibility of It Gets Better
But my anger got the better of me, and I impulsively snorted the huge line they offered in the hope of quieting me.
In defense of happy pills: why talk to a shrink if Prozac or Zoloft will do the trick?