cream of the crop, the
The best or choicest of anything, as in The apples from this orchard are definitely the cream of the crop. The noun cream has been used to mean “the best” since the 16th century. The French equivalent of the present term, la crème de la crème (“the cream of the cream”) was familiar in English by 1800.
Words nearby cream of the crop, the
cream cheese,
cream cracker,
cream ice,
cream of coconut,
cream of tartar,
cream of the crop, the,
cream pail,
cream puff,
cream puff paste,
cream sauce,
cream soda