First
[fɜːst] or [fɝst]
Definition
(noun.) an honours degree of the highest class.
(noun.) the first element in a countable series; 'the first of the month'.
(noun.) the first or highest in an ordering or series; 'He wanted to be the first'.
(adj.) ranking above all others; 'was first in her class'; 'the foremost figure among marine artists'; 'the top graduate' .
(adj.) 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' .
(adj.) highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections; 'first soprano'; 'the first violin section'; 'played first horn' .
(adj.) indicating the beginning unit in a series .
(adv.) before anything else; 'first we must consider the garter snake'.
(adv.) the initial time; 'when Felix first saw a garter snake'.
(adv.) before another in time, space, or importance; 'I was here first'; 'let's do this job first'.
Checker: Tom--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest; as, the first day of a month; the first year of a reign.
(a.) Foremost; in front of, or in advance of, all others.
(a.) Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest; as, Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece.
(adv.) Before any other person or thing in time, space, rank, etc.; -- much used in composition with adjectives and participles.
(n.) The upper part of a duet, trio, etc., either vocal or instrumental; -- so called because it generally expresses the air, and has a preeminence in the combined effect.
Typist: Lycurgus
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Foremost, leading.[2]. Chief, highest, principal, capital.[3]. Earliest.[4]. Primary.[5]. Primitive, primeval, pristine.
ad. In the first place, at the outset, in the beginning, first and foremost, before any thing else.
Checked by Benita
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Leading, primary, pristine, original, foremost, primitive, principal, primeval,highest, chief, earliest, {[onmost]?}
ANT:Subsequent, secondary, subordinate, subservient, lowest, unimportant, last,hindmost
Editor: Olaf
Definition
adj. foremost: preceding all others in place time or degree: most eminent: chief.—adv. before anything else in time space rank &c.—adjs. First′-begot′ten begotten or born first: eldest; First′-born born first.—n. the first in the order of birth: the eldest child.—adj. First′-class of the first class rank or quality.—ns. First′-day Sunday; First′-floor (see Floor); First′-foot (Scot.) the first person to enter a house after the beginning of the new year; First′-fruit First′-fruits the fruits first gathered in a season: the first profits or effects of anything bishoprics benefices &c.—adj. First′-hand obtained without the intervention of a second party.—n. First′ling the first produce or offspring esp. of animals.—adv. First′ly in the first place.—adjs. First′-rate of the first or highest rate or excellence: pre-eminent in quality size or estimation; First′-wa′ter the first or highest quality purest lustre—of diamonds and pearls.
Typed by Freddie
Examples
- The paper was first dipped into a solution of common salt, and then wiped dry, to diffuse the salt uniformly through the substance of the paper. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- I am also to take it as a matter of fact that the proposal to withdraw from the engagement came, in the first instance, from YOU? Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Have you found your first day's work harder than you expected? Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- His first United States patent, No. 174,465, was granted March 7, 1876, and his second January 30, 1877, No. 186,787. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The girl refused; and for the first time, and to the astonishment of the majestic mistress of the school. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- The first known application of the kind was made by Mr. Murdoch, an engineer in the employment of Messrs. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- To my inexperience we at first appeared on the eve of a civil war; each party was violent, acrimonious, and unyielding. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- In speaking of education Plato rather startles us by affirming that a child must be trained in falsehood first and in truth afterwards. Plato. The Republic.
- The first half-hour was lost, for Fanny and Lady Bertram were together, and unless she had Fanny to herself she could hope for nothing. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- Dejah Thoris in the clutches of the First Born! Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- It was the first, or among the first of locks which troubled modern burglars' picks. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- This woman's first husband is in that cottage. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- The sitting was altogether very satisfactory; she was quite enough pleased with the first day's sketch to wish to go on. Jane Austen. Emma.
- And thus young Lord Greystoke took the first step toward the goal which he had set--the finding of other white men like himself. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- Surely, I would say, all men do not wear those shocking nightcaps; else all women's illusions had been destroyed on the first night of their marriage! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
Edited by Christine