Also, have the worst of it . Be defeated, experience a disadvantage, or suffer the most harm. For example, In any argument Joe usually gets the worst of it , or If we play the last three games as scheduled, our team is bound to have the worst of it , or The car got the worst of it, and no one was hurt . These phrases survive many older ones (such as go to the worst and come by the worst ) in which worst is used in the sense of “defeat,” a usage dating from about 1500. Also see get the better (best) of