first

How to use first in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for first.

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Editorial note

And don't you dare think for one second that you can "just talk to the CEO first.

Examples13

Definitions16

Parts of speech3

Quick take

the first or highest in an ordering or series; "He wanted to be the first"

Meaning at a glance

The clearest senses and uses of first gathered in one view.

noun

the first or highest in an ordering or series; "He wanted to be the first"

noun

the first element in a countable series; "the first of the month"

noun

the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her"

Definitions

Core meanings and parts of speech for first.

noun

the first or highest in an ordering or series; "He wanted to be the first"

noun

the first element in a countable series; "the first of the month"

noun

the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her"

noun

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)

noun

an honours degree of the highest class

noun

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

adjective

preceding all others in time or space or degree; "the first house on the right"; "the first day of spring"; "his first political race"; "her first baby"; "the first time"; "the first meetings of the new party"; "the first phase of his training"

adjective

indicating the beginning unit in a series

adjective

serving to set in motion; "the magazine's inaugural issue"; "the initiative phase in the negotiations"; "an initiatory step toward a treaty"; "his first (or maiden) speech in Congress"; "the liner's maiden voyage"

See also: inaugural, initiative, initiatory, maiden

adjective

serving to begin; "the beginning canto of the poem"; "the first verse"

adjective

ranking above all others; "was first in her class"; "the foremost figure among marine artists"; "the top graduate"

adjective

highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections; "first soprano"; "the first violin section"; "played first horn"

adverb

before anything else; "first we must consider the garter snake"

adverb

the initial time; "when Felix first saw a garter snake"

adverb

before another in time, space, or importance; "I was here first"; "let's do this job first"

adverb

prominently forward; "he put his best foot foremost"

Example sentences

And don't you dare think for one second that you can "just talk to the CEO first.

" If you can say "yes" to the second question, the answer to the first question doesn't matter.

That's why the program details are listed on the first page of the checkout process and not the last.

Imagine if you were the first person to squat land near what has now become Manhattan.

The first time it happens you'll be really upset and threaten to sue, and file a police report.

Compare the first 2/3rds of Matasano's lifetime to the last 1/3rd.

Beverages are an easy thing for the bean-counters to get approval to cut, so when times get tough, they get cut first.

For example, apply it only to the top page at first, and reduce the number of endorsements required for display to 1.

If you have employees, pay them and get them off your books first; employee wages are, depending on the state you're in, the one likely exception to that rule.

Learning foreign languages to high levels of communication proficiency was the first adult learning challenge I took on.

Would you?Well, the first big thing Bezos realized is that the infrastructure they'd built for selling and shipping books and sundry could be transformed an excellent repurposable computing platform.

If you're delaying on this point out of some idea of wanting to "try to fix things first" or "not wanting to be the bad guy," you're just shooting yourself in the foot and downing blood thinners to keep the wound from clotting.

From the time Bezos issued his edict through the time I left, Amazon had transformed culturally into a company that thinks about everything in a services-first fashion.