first

  • (r) before anything else
    • first we must consider the garter snake
    firstly, first of all, first off, foremost,
  • (a) 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
  • (s) indicating the beginning unit in a series 1st,
  • (r) the initial time
    • when Felix first saw a garter snake
    for the first time,
  • (r) before another in time, space, or importance
    • I was here first
    • let's do this job first
  • (s) 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
    initiative, initiatory, maiden, inaugural,
  • (s) serving to begin
    • the beginning canto of the poem
    • the first verse
    beginning,
  • (r) prominently forward
    • he put his best foot foremost
    foremost,
  • (s) ranking above all others
    • was first in her class
    • the foremost figure among marine artists
    • the top graduate
    foremost, world-class,
  • (a) highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections
    • first soprano
    • the first violin section
    • played first horn

Nouns

Synonyms

number one firstly first of all first off foremost 1st number 1 for the first time commencement get-go offset outset showtime starting time beginning kickoff start initiative initiatory maiden inaugural first base first-class honours degree world-class first gear low gear low

Antonyms

last middle end ending second

See also

early front original primary

Words of close approximity

fire firm
fired firth
first aid first-aid kit first-aid station First Amendment first and last first appearance first balcony First Baron Beveridge First Baron Kelvin First Baron Lytton First Baron Macaulay First Baron Marks of Broughton First Baron Passfield First Baron Rutherford First Baron Rutherford of Nelson First Baron Tennyson first base first baseman first battle of Ypres first blush firstborn first cause first class first-class first-class honours degree first-class mail first-come-first-serve First Council of Constantinople First Council of Lyons First Council of Nicaea first cousin first cranial nerve First Crusade first degree first-degree burn first derivative First Duke of Marlborough First Duke of Wellington First Earl Kitchener of Khartoum First Earl of Beaconsfield First Earl of Chatham First Earl of Orford First Earl Wavell First Epistle of John First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy First Epistle of Peter First Epistle to the Corinthians First Epistle to the Thessalonians First Epistle to Timothy first estate first floor first gear first half firsthand first harmonic first in first out first lady first language First Lateran Council first law of motion first law of thermodynamics first lieutenant first light First Lord of the Treasury firstly First Marquess Cornwallis first mate first moment first mortgage first name first-nighter first of all first off first offender First of May First of October Antifascist Resistance Group first-order correlation first period first person first-place finish first principle first quarter first-rate first-rater first reading first rudiment first sacker first sergeant First State first step first stomach first strike first-string first team first trimester First Vatican Council First Viscount Haldane of Cloan First Viscount Nuffield