first

—firstness, adj.

/ferrst/, adj.

1. being before all others with respect to time, order, rank, importance, etc., used as the ordinal number of one: the first edition; the first vice president.

2. Music. highest or chief among several voices or instruments of the same class: first alto; first horn.

3. Auto. low (def. 31).

4. (often cap.) being a member of the household or an intimate acquaintance of the president of the U.S. or of the governor of a state: the First Lady; Checkers, the first dog.

5. first thing, before anything else; at once; promptly: I'll call you first thing when I arrive.

adv.

6. before all others or anything else in time, order, rank, etc.

7. before some other thing, event, etc.: If you're going, phone first.

8. for the first time: She first visited Atlanta in 1980.

9. in preference to something else; rather; sooner: I'd die first.

10. in the first place; firstly.

11. first and last, everything considered; above all else; altogether: First and last, it is important to know oneself.

12. first off, Informal. at the outset; immediately: He wanted to know first off why he hadn't been notified.

13. the person or thing that is first in time, order, rank, etc.

14. the beginning.

15. the first part; first member of a series.

16. Music.

a. the voice or instrument that takes the highest or chief part in its class, esp. in an orchestra or chorus.

b. a leader of a part or group of performers.

17. Auto. low gear; first gear: She shifted into first and drove off.

18. the winning position or rank in a race or other competition.

19. Baseball. See first base.

20. Usually, firsts. Com.

a. a product or goods of the first or highest quality.

b. goods produced according to specifications, without visible flaws. Cf. second¹ (def. 23), third (def. 12).

21. Brit. Univ.

a. first-class honors. Cf. class (def. 18).

b. a person who has won such honors.

[bef. 1000; ME; OE fyr(e)st (see FORE¹, -EST); c. G Fürst prince]

* * *

(as used in expressions)

first one

first cause

First International

first lady

Marne First Battle of the

Northern War First

Persian Gulf War First

First World War

* * *

Universalium. 2010.

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Synonyms:

Foremost, leading / Chief, highest, principal, capital / Earliest / Primary, elementary, rudimentary / Primitive, primeval, pristine, In the first place, at the outset, in the beginning, first and foremost, before anything else

Look at other dictionaries:

First — (f[ e]rst), a. [OE. first, furst, AS. fyrst; akin to Icel. fyrstr, Sw. & Dan. f[ o]rste, OHG. furist, G. f[ u]rst prince; a superlatiye form of E. for, fore. See {For}, {Fore}, and cf. {Formeer}, {Foremost}.] 1. Preceding all others of a series… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
First — or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one. It can also refer to:* FIRST, a science and technology competition founded by Dean Kamen * FIRST (CERT), Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams * Ruth First (1925 1982), a leading anti… … Wikipedia
First TV — was the name of a cable television network that was operated in New Zealand s two main North Island cities, Auckland and Wellington by Telecom New Zealand in the 1990s.Trial stage First Media was a stupidly owned subsidiary of Telecom NZ. First… … Wikipedia
First — steht für: die obere Schnittkante von zwei Dachflächen, siehe Dachfirst eine Reihe von Gipfeln eines Gebirges, siehe Gebirgskamm in der Geologie die Schicht im unmittelbaren Kontakt zum Bezugshorizont, siehe Hangendes im Bergbau für das… … Deutsch Wikipedia
First. (EP) — First is Denise Ho s debut album.Infobox Album Name = first. (EP) Version 1 Type = EP Longtype = Artist = Denise Ho Released = March 28, 2001 Recorded = Genre = Cantopop Length = Label = Capital Artists Limited Producer = Reviews = Last album =… … Wikipedia
First — (f[ e]rst), adv. Before any other person or thing in time, space, rank, etc.; much used in composition with adjectives and participles. [1913 Webster] Adam was first formed, then Eve. 1 Tim. ii. 13. [1913 Webster] {At first}, {At the first}, at… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
First — First, n. (Mus.) The upper part of a duet, trio, etc., either vocal or instrumental; so called because it generally expresses the air, and has a pre[ e]minence in the combined effect. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
FIRST — Infobox Non profit Non profit name = FIRST Non profit Non profit type = 501(c)(3) not for profit public charity founded date = 1989 founder = Dean Kamen location = Manchester, NH origins = key people = Dean Kamen, Founder John Abele, Chairman of… … Wikipedia
first — I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Old English fyrst; akin to Old High German furist first, Old English faran to go more at fare Date: before 12th century preceding all others in time, order, or importance: as a. earliest b. being the… … New Collegiate Dictionary
first — See: AT FIRST BLUSH, AT FIRST SIGHT, CAST THE FIRST STONE, GET TO FIRST BASE or REACH FIRST BASE, IN THE FIRST PLACE, OF THE FIRST WATER … Dictionary of American idioms
first — See: AT FIRST BLUSH, AT FIRST SIGHT, CAST THE FIRST STONE, GET TO FIRST BASE or REACH FIRST BASE, IN THE FIRST PLACE, OF THE FIRST WATER … Dictionary of American idioms

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