Definition of "first" in 英语

adjective

1. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.

   • Hancock was first to arrive.
   • The first day of September 2013 was a Sunday.
   • I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race.

2. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.

   • Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece.
   • the first violinist
   • 1784: William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.

3. Of or belonging to a first family.

   • First Cat; First Daughter; First Dog; First Son

4. Coming right after the zeroth in things that use zero-based numbering.

adverb

1. Before anything else; firstly.

   • Clean the sink first, before you even think of starting to cook.
   • I plunged nose first into the water.

2. For the first time.

   • I first witnessed a death when I was nine years old.

noun

1. (uncountable) The person or thing in the first position.

   • He was the first to complete the course.

2. (uncountable) The first gear of an engine.

3. (countable) Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.

   • This is a first. For once he has nothing to say.

4. (countable, baseball) First base.

   • There was a close play at first.

5. (countable, British, colloquial) A first-class honours degree.

6. (countable, colloquial) A first-edition copy of some publication.

7. (in combination) A fraction whose (integer) denominator ends in the digit 1.

   • one forty-first of the estate

verb

1. (transitive, rare) To propose (a new motion) in a meeting, which must subsequently be seconded.

noun

1. (obsolete) Time; time granted; respite.