| / English Dictionary |
FIRST
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
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)
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("first" is a kind of...):
position ((in team sports) the role assigned to an individual player)
Holonyms ("first" is a member of...):
baseball team (a team that plays baseball)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; used to start a car moving
Synonyms:
first; first gear; low; low gear
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("first" is a kind of...):
gear; gear mechanism (a mechanism for transmitting motion for some specific purpose (as the steering gear of a vehicle))
Holonyms ("first" is a part of...):
auto; automobile; car; machine; motorcar (a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An honours degree of the highest class
Synonyms:
first; first-class honours degree
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("first" is a kind of...):
honours; honours degree (a university degree with honors)
Domain region:
Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "first"):
double first (a first-class honours degree in two subjects)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The first element in a countable series
Example:
the first of the month
Synonyms:
first; number 1; number one
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("first" is a kind of...):
no.; ordinal; ordinal number (the number designating place in an ordered sequence)
Sense 5
Meaning:
The first or highest in an ordering or series
Example:
He wanted to be the first
Synonyms:
first; number one
Classified under:
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas
Hypernyms ("first" is a kind of...):
rank (relative status)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "first"):
former (the first of two or the first mentioned of two)
Sense 6
Meaning:
The time at which something is supposed to begin
Example:
she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her
Synonyms:
beginning; commencement; first; get-go; kickoff; offset; outset; showtime; start; starting time
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("first" is a kind of...):
point; point in time (an instant of time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "first"):
birth (the time when something begins (especially life))
incipience; incipiency (beginning to exist or to be apparent)
starting point; terminus a quo (earliest limiting point)
threshold (the starting point for a new state or experience)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Ranking above all others
Example:
the top graduate
Synonyms:
first; foremost; world-class
Classified under:
Similar:
best ((superlative of 'good') having the most positive qualities)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Serving to begin
Example:
the first verse
Synonyms:
beginning; first
Classified under:
Similar:
opening (first or beginning)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Serving to set in motion
Example:
the liner's maiden voyage
Synonyms:
first; inaugural; initiative; initiatory; maiden
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
opening (first or beginning)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Preceding all others in time or space or degree
Example:
the first phase of his training
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
prime (used of the first or originating agent)
premier; prime (first in rank or degree)
premier; premiere (preceding all others in time)
original (preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed)
first-year; freshman (used of a person in the first year of an experience (especially in United States high school or college))
eldest; firstborn (first in order of birth)
initial (occurring at the beginning)
basic; introductory (serving as a base or starting point)
archetypal; archetypical; prototypal; prototypic; prototypical (representing or constituting an original type after which other similar things are patterned)
Also:
early (at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time)
front (relating to or located in the front)
original (being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of)
primary (of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary)
Antonym:
last (coming after all others in time or space or degree or being the only one remaining)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections
Example:
played first horn
Classified under:
Adjectives
Domain category:
music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)
Antonym:
second (a part or voice or instrument or orchestra section lower in pitch than or subordinate to the first)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Indicating the beginning unit in a series
Synonyms:
1st; first
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
ordinal (being or denoting a numerical order in a series)
III. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Before anything else
Example:
first we must consider the garter snake
Synonyms:
first; first of all; first off; firstly; foremost
Classified under:
Sense 2
Meaning:
The initial time
Example:
when Felix first saw a garter snake
Classified under:
Sense 3
Meaning:
Prominently forward
Example:
he put his best foot foremost
Synonyms:
first; foremost
Classified under:
Adverbs
Sense 4
Meaning:
Before another in time, space, or importance
Example:
let's do this job first
Classified under:
Adverbs
Context examples:
An international team of researchers led by scientists at the University of Cambridge and MSD has created the first detailed genetic map of human proteins, the key building blocks of biology.
(Scientists create ‘genetic atlas’ of proteins in human blood, University of Cambridge)
The letter A is the first letter in the Latin alphabet.
(A, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
However, it is the first mammalian member of the family with a primarily non-lens role.
(Absent in Melanoma 1, NCI Thesaurus/from OMIM)
Rejection of a transplanted organ that usually occurs after the first week of the transplantation.
(Acute Rejection, NCI Thesaurus)
Auditory Verbal Learning Test Version A - The number of words recalled from List A, first attempt.
(ADNI AVLT - List A Recall 1 Total, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)
And this was due, I believe, first, to habit; and second, to the fact that they were less sensitively organized.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
The researchers first twist-spun the nanotubes into high-strength, lightweight yarns.
(Energy-Harvesting Yarns Generate Electricity, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
To improve its biodegradability, the grass is pretreated at first.
(Will We Soon Drive on ‘Grassoline’?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
This fossil shows us that one of the first waves of GABI happened about 12 million years before our previous record.
(First-ever fossil monkey found in North America, NSF)
This was the first sunset observed in color by Curiosity.
(Sunset in Mars' Gale Crater, NASA)
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