first

[[t]fɜ͟ː(r)st[/t]]

♦

firsts

1) ORD The first thing, person, event, or period of time is the one that happens or comes before all the others of the same kind.

She lost 16 pounds in the first month of her diet.

...the first few flakes of snow...

Two years ago Johnson came first in the one hundred metres at Seoul.

Ant:

last

PRON

First is also a pronoun.

The second paragraph startled me even more than the first... He put me through a series of exercises to improve my car control. The first was to drive on simulated ice.

2) ADV: ADV with v, ADV with cl/group If you do something first, you do it before anyone else does, or before you do anything else.

I do not remember who spoke first, but we all expressed the same opinion...

First, tell me what you think of my products...

Routine questions first, if you don't mind.

3) ORD When something happens or is done for the first time, it has never happened or been done before.

This is the first time she has experienced disappointment...

It was the first occasion when they had both found it possible to keep a rendezvous.

ADV: ADV with v

First is also an adverb.

Anne and Steve got engaged two years after they had first started going out... I met him first at his house where we had a chat.

4) N-SING: a N, oft N for n An event that is described as a first has never happened before and is important or exciting.

It is a first for New York. An outdoor exhibition of Fernando Botero's sculpture on Park Avenue.

5) PRON: the PRON that The first you hear of something or the first you know about it is the time when you first become aware of it.

We heard it on the TV last night - that was the first we heard of it...

When Mark arrived home that afternoon, it was the first he knew for sure of the surprise party.

6) ADV: ADV before v You use first when you are talking about what happens in the early part of an event or experience, in contrast to what happens later.

When he first came home he wouldn't say anything about what he'd been doing.

Syn:

initially

ORD: usu poss ORD

First is also an ordinal.

She told him that her first reaction was disgust... My first feeling on getting into the cabin was one of dislike to everything I saw.

7) ADV: ADV after v (emphasis) In order to emphasize your determination not to do a particular thing, you can say that rather than do it, you would do something else first.

Marry that fat son of a fat cattle dealer? She would die first!

8) ADV: ADV with cl/group You use first when you are about to give the first in a series of items.

Certain basic guidelines can be given. First, have a heating engineer check the safety of the heating system.

Syn:

firstly

9) ORD The first thing, person, or place in a line is the one that is nearest to you or nearest to the front.

Before him, in the first row, sat the President...

First in the queue were two Japanese students.

Ant:

last

10) ORD You use first to refer to the best or most important thing or person of a particular kind.

The first duty of any government must be to protect the interests of the taxpayers...

Imagine winning the local lottery first prize of ₤5,000.

...first team football.

11) ORD First is used in the title of the job or position of someone who has a higher rank than anyone else with the same basic job title.

...the First Lord of the Admiralty.

...the first mate of a British tanker.

12) N-COUNT: oft N in n In British universities, a first is an honours degree of the highest standard.

...an Oxford Blue who took a First in Constitutional History.

13) PHRASE: PHR with cl/group You use first of all to introduce the first of a number of things that you want to say.

The cut in the interest rates has not had very much impact in California for two reasons. First of all, banks are still afraid to loan.

14) PHRASE: PHR with cl You use at first when you are talking about what happens in the early stages of an event or experience, or just after something else has happened, in contrast to what happens later.

At first, he seemed surprised by my questions...

I had some difficulty at first recalling why we were there.

Syn:

initially

15) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone or something comes first for a particular person, you mean they treat or consider that person or thing as more important than anything else.

There's no time for boyfriends, my career comes first.

16) PHRASE You say `first come first served' to indicate that a group of people or things will be dealt with or given something in the order in which they arrive.

There will be five buses, first come first served.

17) PHRASE: PHR with cl From the first means ever since something started.

You knew about me from the first, didn't you?...

I thought from the first that she was a little unsure about that marriage.

18) PHRASE: PHR after v If you learn or experience something at first hand, you experience it yourself or learn it directly rather than being told about it by other people.

He arrived in Natal to see at first hand the effects of the recent heavy fighting.

Syn:

from the outset

19) PHRASE: V inflects (emphasis) If you say that you do not know the first thing about something, you are emphasizing that you know absolutely nothing about it.

You don't know the first thing about farming.

20) PHRASE: PHR with cl You use first off to introduce the first of a number of things that you want to say. [INFORMAL]

First off, huge apologies for last month's confusing report.

21) PHRASE: V inflects If you put someone or something first, you treat or consider them as more important than anything else.

Somebody has to think for the child and put him first.

Syn:

firstly

22) PHRASE You say `first things first' when you are talking about something that should be done or dealt with before anything else because it is the most important.

Let's see if we can't find something to set the mood. First things first; some music.

23) first and foremost → see foremost