2 ADV [ADV with v] If you do something first , you do it before anyone else does, or before you do anything else. □ I do not remember who spoke first, but we all expressed the same opinion. □ First, tell me what you think of my products. □ Routine questions first, if you don't mind.
3 ORD When something happens or is done for the first time, it has never happened or been done before. □ This is the first time she has experienced disappointment. □ It was the first occasion when they had both found it possible to keep a rendezvous. ● ADV [ADV with v] First is also an adverb. □ Anne and Steve got engaged two years after they had first started going out.
4 N‑SING An event that is described as a first has never happened before and is important or exciting. □ [+ for ] It is a first for New York. An outdoor exhibition of Fernando Botero's sculpture on Park Avenue.
5 PRON The first you hear of something or the first you know about it is the time when you first become aware of it. □ We heard it on the TV last night–that was the first we heard of it.
6 ADV [ADV before v] You use first when you are talking about what happens in the early part of an event or experience, in contrast to what happens later. □ When he first came home he wouldn't say anything about what he'd been doing. ● ORD First is also an ordinal. □ She told him that her first reaction was disgust.
7 ADV [ADV after v] In order to emphasize your determination not to do a particular thing, you can say that rather than do it, you would do something else first . [EMPHASIS ] □ Marry that fat son of a fat cattle dealer? She would die first!
8 ADV You use first when you are about to give the first in a series of items. □ Certain guidelines can be given. First, have a heating engineer check the safety of the system.
9 ORD The first thing, person, or place in a line is the one that is nearest to you or nearest to the front. □ Before him, in the first row, sat the President. □ First in the queue were two Japanese students.
10 ORD You use first to refer to the best or most important thing or person of a particular kind. □ The first duty of any government must be to protect the interests of the taxpayers. □ Imagine winning the local lottery first prize of £5,000.
11 ORD First is used in the title of the job or position of someone who has a higher rank than anyone else with the same basic job title. □ …the First Lord of the Admiralty. □ …the first mate of a British tanker.
12 N‑COUNT In British universities, a first is an honours degree of the highest standard. □ [+ in ] …an Oxford Blue who took a First in Constitutional History.
13 PHRASE You use first of all to introduce the first of a number of things that you want to say. □ The cut in the interest rates has not had very much impact in California for two reasons. First of all, banks are still afraid to loan.
14 PHRASE You use at first when you are talking about what happens in the early stages of an event or experience, or just after something else has happened, in contrast to what happens later. □ At first, he seemed surprised by my questions. □ I had some difficulty at first recalling why we were there.
15 PHRASE If you say that someone or something comes first for a particular person, you mean they treat or consider that person or thing as more important than anything else. □ There's no time for boyfriends, my career comes first.
16 PHRASE If you learn or experience something at first hand , you experience it yourself or learn it directly rather than being told about it by other people. □ He saw at first hand the effects of the recent heavy fighting.
17 PHRASE If you say that you do not know the first thing about something, you are emphasizing that you know absolutely nothing about it. [EMPHASIS ] □ You don't know the first thing about farming.
18 PHRASE If you put someone or something first , you treat or consider them as more important than anything else. □ Somebody has to think for the child and put him first.
19 PHRASE You say ' first things first ' when you are talking about something that should be done or dealt with before anything else because it is the most important. □ Let's see if we can't find something to set the mood. First things first; some music.
20 first and foremost → see foremost
-first /-fɜː r st/ COMB [ADV after v] -first combines with nouns like 'head' and 'feet' to indicate that someone moves with the part that is mentioned pointing in the direction in which they are moving. □ He overbalanced and fell head first.
fi rst ai d N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] First aid is simple medical treatment given as soon as possible to a person who is injured or who suddenly becomes ill. □ There are many emergencies which need prompt first aid treatment. □ …a first aid kit.
fi rst born also first-born N‑SING [oft N n] Someone's first born is their first child. □ She was my first-born.
fi rst-cla ss also first class
1 ADJ If you describe something or someone as first-class , you mean that they are extremely good and of the highest quality. □ The food was first-class. □ She has a first-class brain and is a damned good writer.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] You use first-class to describe something that is in the group that is considered to be of the highest standard. □ He officially announced his retirement from first-class cricket yesterday. □ Harriet graduated with a first class degree in literature.