the very best (something)

The phrase "the very best" is just a stronger way of saying "the best". It's a sign that the person is not talking about the top 20% of something, but maybe the top 5%. For example:

The secret to our success is that we only hire the very best people.

In this sentence, the speaker wants the listener to think that they hire the most qualified employees, with a good educational background and a lot of experience.

If I'm taking my wife out for dinner at a really nice restaurant and she acts surprised, I might say:

Only the very best for you, my dear.

This would be a joke, because she knows that we don't always eat at such expensive restaurants.

This phrase appears in these lessons: