first | ||
1. | [ adjective ] preceding all others in time or space or degree | |
Examples: | "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" |
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Related terms: | last intermediate initial original premier prime firstborn oldest archetypal basic premier freshman early front primary original | |
2. | [ adjective ] indicating the beginning unit in a series | |
Synonyms: | 1st | |
Related terms: | ordinal | |
3. | [ adverb ] before anything else | |
Synonyms: | first_of_all first_off foremost firstly | |
Examples: | "first we must consider the garter snake" |
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4. | [ adverb ] the initial time; | |
Synonyms: | for_the_first_time | |
Examples: | "when Felix first saw a garter snake" |
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5. | [ noun ] the first or highest in an ordering or series | |
Synonyms: | number_one | |
Examples: | : "He wanted to be the first" |
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Related terms: | rank former | |
6. | [ adverb ] before another in time, space, or importance | |
Examples: | "I was here first" "let's do this job first" |
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7. | [ noun ] (mathematics) the first element in a countable series | |
Synonyms: | number_1 number_one | |
Examples: | "the first of the month" |
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Related terms: | ordinal_number | |
8. | [ adverb ] prominently forward | |
Synonyms: | foremost | |
Examples: | "he put his best foot foremost" |
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9. | [ adjective ] serving to set in motion | |
Synonyms: | inaugural maiden initiatory initiative | |
Examples: | "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" |
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Related terms: | opening | |
10. | [ adjective ] serving to begin | |
Synonyms: | beginning | |
Examples: | "the beginning canto of the poem" "the first verse" |
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Related terms: | opening | |
11. | [ adjective ] ranking above all others | |
Synonyms: | foremost top | |
Examples: | "was first in her class" "the foremost figure among marine artists" "the top graduate" |
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Related terms: | best | |
12. | [ adjective ] ranking above all others | |
Synonyms: | foremost world-class | |
Examples: | "was first in her class" "the foremost figure among marine artists" "the top graduate" |
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Related terms: | best | |
13. | [ noun ] (baseball,sport) the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed at first base | |
Synonyms: | first_base | |
Related terms: | position baseball_team | |
14. | [ noun ] the time at which something is supposed to begin | |
Synonyms: | beginning start outset kickoff showtime get-go offset starting_time commencement | |
Examples: | "they got an early start" "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her" |
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Related terms: | end middle point threshold birth incipiency terminus_a_quo begin begin originate inaugurate | |
15. | [ noun ] Last name, frequency rank in the U.S. is 29015 | |
16. | [ adjective ] (music) highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections | |
Examples: | "first soprano" "the first violin section" "played first horn" |
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Related terms: | second music | |
17. | [ adjective ] being the gear producing the lowest drive speed | |
Synonyms: | low | |
Examples: | "use first gear on steep hills" |
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Related terms: | forward | |
18. | [ noun ] (Great Britain) an honours degree of the highest class | |
Synonyms: | first-class_honours_degree | |
Related terms: | honours double_first UK | |
19. | [ noun ] the lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; used to start a car moving | |
Synonyms: | first_gear low_gear low | |
Related terms: | gear car | |
Similar spelling: |
firstly |