'FIRST' definitions:
Definition of 'first'
From: WordNet
adverb
Before anything else; "first we must consider the garter snake" [syn: first, firstly, foremost, first of all, first off]
adverb
The initial time; "when Felix first saw a garter snake" [syn: first, for the first time]
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" [syn: foremost, first]
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" [ant: last]
adjective
Indicating the beginning unit in a series [syn: first, 1st]
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" [syn: inaugural, initiative, initiatory, first, maiden]
adjective
Serving to begin; "the beginning canto of the poem"; "the first verse" [syn: beginning(a), first]
adjective
Ranking above all others; "was first in her class"; "the foremost figure among marine artists"; "the top graduate" [syn: first, foremost, world-class]
adjective
Highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections; "first soprano"; "the first violin section"; "played first horn" [ant: second]
noun
The first or highest in an ordering or series; "He wanted to be the first" [syn: first, number one]
noun
The first element in a countable series; "the first of the month" [syn: first, number one, number 1]
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" [syn: beginning, commencement, first, outset, get-go, start, kickoff, starting time, showtime, offset] [ant: end, ending, middle]
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) [syn: first base, first]
noun
An honours degree of the highest class [syn: first, first- class honours degree]
noun
The lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; used to start a car moving [syn: first gear, first, low gear, low]
Definition of 'First'
From: GCIDE
- First \First\ (f[~e]rst), a. [OE. first, furst, AS. fyrst; akin to Icel. fyrstr, Sw. & Dan. f["o]rste, OHG. furist, G. f["u]rst prince; a superlatiye form of E. for, fore. See For, Fore, and cf. Formeer, Foremost.]
- 1. 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. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Foremost; in front of, or in advance of, all others. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest; as, Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece. [1913 Webster]
- At first blush. See under Blush.
- At first hand, from the first or original source; without the intervention of any agent. [1913 Webster]
- It is the intention of the person to reveal it at first hand, by way of mouth, to yourself. --Dickens.
- First coat (Plastering), the solid foundation of coarse stuff, on which the rest is placed; it is thick, and crossed with lines, so as to give a bond for the next coat.
- First day, Sunday; -- so called by the Friends.
- First floor. (a) The ground floor. [U.S.] (b) The floor next above the ground floor. [Eng.]
- First fruit or First fruits. (a) The fruits of the season earliest gathered. (b) (Feudal Law) One year's profits of lands belonging to the king on the death of a tenant who held directly from him. (c) (Eng. Eccl. Law) The first year's whole profits of a benefice or spiritual living. (d) The earliest effects or results. [1913 Webster]
- See, Father, what first fruits on earth are sprung From thy implanted grace in man! --Milton.
- First mate, an officer in a merchant vessel next in rank to the captain.
- First name, same as Christian name. See under Name, n.
- First officer (Naut.), in the merchant service, same as First mate (above).
- First sergeant (Mil.), the ranking non-commissioned officer in a company; the orderly sergeant. --Farrow.
- First watch (Naut.), the watch from eight to twelve at midnight; also, the men on duty during that time.
- First water, the highest quality or purest luster; -- said of gems, especially of diamond and pearls.
- Syn: Primary; primordial; primitive; primeval; pristine; highest; chief; principal; foremost. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'First'
From: GCIDE
- First \First\ (f[~e]rst), adv. Before any other person or thing in time, space, rank, etc.; -- much used in composition with adjectives and participles. [1913 Webster]
- Adam was first formed, then Eve. --1 Tim. ii. 13. [1913 Webster]
- At first, At the first, at the beginning or origin.
- First or last, at one time or another; at the beginning or end. [1913 Webster]
- And all are fools and lovers first or last. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'First'
From: GCIDE
- First \First\, n. (Mus.) The upper part of a duet, trio, etc., either vocal or instrumental; -- so called because it generally expresses the air, and has a pre["e]minence in the combined effect. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'first'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- ab initio,
- ab ovo,
- aborigine,
- ahead,
- alpha,
- antecedent,
- anterior,
- anticipatory,
- arch,
- at first,
- at the start,
- banner,
- basic,
- before,
- before everything,
- beforehand,
- beginning,
- blue ribbon,
- breaking-in,
- by choice,
- by election,
- by vote,
- capital,
- cardinal,
- central,
- champion,
- chief,
- chiefly,
- ci-devant,
- commencement,
- crowning,
- dominant,
- earlier,
- earliest,
- early,
- elder,
- elementary,
- eminent,
- essential,
- exordial,
- first and foremost,
- first blush,
- first glance,
- first impression,
- first inning,
- first lap,
- first move,
- first place,
- first round,
- first sight,
- first stage,
- first step,
- first thing,
- firstly,
- focal,
- fore,
- foregoing,
- forehand,
- foremost,
- former,
- forward,
- from the beginning,
- front,
- frontal,
- fundamental,
- gambit,
- great,
- head,
- heading,
- headmost,
- hegemonic,
- highest,
- in advance,
- in front,
- in preference,
- in the beginning,
- in the forefront,
- in the foreground,
- in the front,
- in the lead,
- inaugural,
- inception,
- initial,
- initially,
- initiative,
- initiatory,
- key,
- le premier pas,
- leading,
- least,
- magisterial,
- maiden,
- main,
- mainly,
- master,
- measly,
- older,
- oldest,
- opening,
- opening move,
- original,
- originally,
- outset,
- outstanding,
- overruling,
- paramount,
- pioneer,
- precedent,
- preceding,
- precessional,
- precurrent,
- precursory,
- predominant,
- preeminent,
- preexistent,
- prefatory,
- preferably,
- preliminary,
- preludial,
- prelusive,
- premier,
- preparatory,
- preponderant,
- prevailing,
- prevenient,
- previous,
- primal,
- primarily,
- primary,
- prime,
- primitiveness,
- primitivity,
- primo,
- primogenial,
- primordial,
- principal,
- principally,
- prior,
- pristine,
- proemial,
- propaedeutic,
- ranking,
- rather,
- rather than,
- ruling,
- senior,
- slight,
- slightest,
- slim,
- smallest,
- sooner,
- sooner than,
- sovereign,
- star,
- start,
- stellar,
- supereminent,
- supreme,
- to the fore,
- to the front,
- topflight,
- trifling,
- triumph,
- trivial,
- up ahead,
- victory,
- warming-up,
- win
Acronyms for 'FIRST'
From: V.E.R.A.
- ForschungsInstitut fuer Rechnerarchitektur und SoftwareTechnik (org., GMD, Berlin, Germany)
- Forum of Incident Response and SecuriTy (org., NIST)
Words containing 'FIRST'
- At first,
- At the first,
- Firstly,
- first in first out,
- first of all,
- first off,
- At first blush,
- At first hand,
- At the first blush,
- Double first,
- First Mesa,
- First coat,
- First day,
- First floor,
- First fruit,
- First fruits,
- First intention,
- First mate,
- First meridian,
- First name,
- First officer,
- First or last,
- First sergeant,
- First watch,
- First water,
- at first glance,
- at first sight,
- first Lautverschiebung,
- first aid,
- first amendment,
- first and last,
- first appearance,
- first balcony,
- first base,
- first baseman,
- first blush,
- first cause,
- first class,
- first cousin,
- first cousins,
- first crusade,
- first degree,
- first derivative,
- first draft,
- first estate,
- first gear,
- first half,
- first harmonic,
- first impression,
- first lady,
- first language,
- first lieutenant,
- first light,
- first moment,
- first mortgage,
- first move,
- first of may,
- first offender,
- first period,
- first person,
- first place,
- first principle,
- first prize,
- first quarter,
- first rate,
- first reading,
- first rudiment,
- first sacker,
- first state,
- first step,
- first stomach,
- first strike,
- first string,
- first team,
- first thing,
- first trimester,
- for the first time,
- in the first place,
- last in first out,
- when first seen,
- first-come-first-serve,
- first-come-first-served,
- A buck of the first head,
- Court of first instance,
- First Mesa, AZ,
- First-class,
- First-hand,
- First-order,
- First-rate,
- To heal by the first intention,
- To play first fiddle,
- Union by the first intention,
- corinthians first epistle to the,
- euclid's first axiom,
- first baron beveridge,
- first baron kelvin,
- first baron lytton,
- first baron macaulay,
- first baron passfield,
- first baron rutherford,
- first baron tennyson,
- first battle of ypres,
- first council of constantinople,
- first council of lyons,
- first council of nicaea,
- first cranial nerve,
- first duke of marlborough,
- first duke of wellington,
- first earl of beaconsfield,
- first earl of chatham,
- first earl of orford,
- first earl wavell,
- first epistle of john,
- first epistle of peter,
- first epistle to the corinthians,
- first epistle to the thessalonians,
- first epistle to timothy,
- first lateran council,
- first law of motion,
- first law of thermodynamics,
- first lord of the treasury,
- first marquess cornwallis,
- first vatican council,
- first viscount nuffield,
- first visual area,
- first world war,
- first-nighter,
- first-rater,
- first-string,
- first-year,
- forty-first,
- goods of the first order,
- hundred-and-first,
- john first epistle of,
- kepler's first law,
- newton's first law,
- peter first epistle of,
- pseudo first order,
- right of first publication,
- sergeant first class,
- thirty-first,
- timothy first epistle to,
- twenty-first,
- First-class car,
- first baron marks of broughton,
- first baron rutherford of nelson,
- first earl kitchener of khartoum,
- first viscount haldane of cloan,
- first-aid kit,
- first-aid station,
- first-class mail,
- first-class scout,
- first-degree burn,
- first-order correlation,
- first-place finish,
- newton's first law of motion,
- First-class railway carriage,
- 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 of october antifascist resistance group,
- first-class honours degree