first — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.

   Usage

   • no-comparative

   Synonyms

   maidenprime

   Examples

   Hancock was first to arrive.

   The first day of September 2013 was a Sunday.

   More examples (4)

   I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race.

   Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.

   The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).

   Consequently, in the initial position the white pieces and pawns are placed on the first and second ranks; the black pieces and pawns on the eighth and seventh ranks.

2. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.

   Usage

   • no-comparative

   Examples

   Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece.

   the first violinist

   More examples (3)

   1784: William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.

   It rose to be the first of pastoral regions, and continued until after the gold discovery to be the land of squatterdom.

   The French openings decided that satin gowns, suits, wraps and even hats were to be in first fashion this autumn.

3. Of or belonging to a first family.

   Usage

   • no-comparative

   Examples

   First Cat; First Daughter; First Dog; First Son

4. Coming right after the zeroth in things that use zero-based numbering.

   Usage

   • no-comparative

Adverb

1. Before anything else; firstly.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   Clean the sink first, before you even think of starting to cook.

   I plunged nose first into the water.

   More examples (2)

   That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.

   Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia.

2. For the first time.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   I first witnessed a death when I was nine years old.

Noun

1. The person or thing in the first position.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   He was the first to complete the course.

   More examples (1)

   Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

2. The first gear of an engine.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

3. Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   This is a first. For once he has nothing to say.

   I remember other firsts: how I wussily asked her out the first time, and the first time I told her I loved her.

4. First base.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   There was a close play at first.

5. A first-class honours degree.

   Usage

   • UK usage
   • Colloquial
   • Countable

   Examples

   [Stephen Hawking] […] would go to Cambridge, he said, if they gave him a first, and stay at Oxford if they gave him a second. He got a first.

6. A first-edition copy of some publication.

   Usage

   • Colloquial
   • Countable

7. A fraction whose (integer) denominator ends in the digit 1.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • In compounds
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   one forty-first of the estate

Verb

1. To propose (a new motion) in a meeting, which must subsequently be seconded.

   Usage

   • Rare
   • Transitive

   Related words

   primaryprimus inter pares

   Examples

   This motion has been firsted and seconded. I desire to third it.

   Sure—er—well, the motion was firsted and seconded that we kick ’em out; […]

   More examples (1)

   Sure, Brother Severn, I second that motion. If you hadn’t got ahead of me I’d have firsted it myself.

Noun

1. Time; time granted; respite.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

Adjective

1. preceding all others in time or space or degree

   Synonyms

   1st

   Antonyms

   last

   Examples

   the first house on the right

   the first day of spring

   More examples (5)

   his first political race

   her first baby

   the first time

   the first meetings of the new party

   the first phase of his training

2. highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections

   Antonyms

   second

   Examples

   first soprano

   the first violin section

   More examples (1)

   played first horn

3. serving to begin

   Synonyms

   beginning

   Examples

   the beginning canto of the poem

   the first verse

4. ranking above all others

   Synonyms

   foremostworld-class

   Examples

   was first in her class

   the foremost figure among marine artists

5. serving to set in motion

   Synonyms

   inauguralinitiativeinitiatorymaiden

   Examples

   the magazine's inaugural issue

   the initiative phase in the negotiations

   More examples (3)

   an initiatory step toward a treaty

   his first (or maiden) speech in Congress

   the liner's maiden voyage

Noun

1. the first or highest in an ordering or series

   Synonyms

   number one

   Broader terms

   rank

   Examples

   He wanted to be the first

2. the first element in a countable series

   Synonyms

   number onenumber 1

   Broader terms

   ordinal numberordinalno.

   Examples

   the first of the month

3. the time at which something is supposed to begin

   Synonyms

   beginningcommencementoutsetget-gostartkickoffstarting timeshowtimeoffset

   Broader terms

   pointpoint in time

   Examples

   they got an early start

   she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her

4. the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed at first of the bases in the infield (counting counterclockwise from home plate)

   Synonyms

   first base

   Broader terms

   position

5. an honours degree of the highest class

   Synonyms

   first-class honours degree

   Broader terms

   honourshonours degree

6. the lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; used to start a car moving

   Synonyms

   first gearlow gearlow

   Broader terms

   geargear mechanism

Adverb

1. before anything else

   Synonyms

   firstlyforemostfirst of allfirst off

   Examples

   first we must consider the garter snake

2. the initial time

   Examples

   when Felix first saw a garter snake

3. before another in time, space, or importance

   Examples

   I was here first

   let's do this job first

4. prominently forward

   Synonyms

   foremost

   Examples

   he put his best foot foremost