FIRST


Meaning of FIRST in English

(~s)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.

The ~ thing, person, event, or period of time is the one that happens or comes before all the others of the same kind.

She lost 16 pounds in the ~ month of her diet.

...the ~ few flakes of snow...

Two years ago Johnson came ~ in the one hundred metres at Seoul.

? last

ORD

First is also a pronoun.

The second paragraph startled me even more than the ~...

He put me through a series of exercises to improve my car control. The ~ was to drive on simulated ice.

PRON

2.

If you do something ~, you do it before anyone else does, or before you do anything else.

I do not remember who spoke ~, but we all expressed the same opinion...

First, tell me what you think of my products...

Routine questions ~, if you don’t mind.

ADV: ADV with v, ADV with cl/group

3.

When something happens or is done for the ~ time, it has never happened or been done before.

This is the ~ time she has experienced disappointment...

It was the ~ occasion when they had both found it possible to keep a rendezvous.

ORD

First is also an adverb.

Anne and Steve got engaged two years after they had ~ started going out...

ADV: ADV with v

4.

An event that is described as a ~ has never happened before and is important or exciting.

It is a ~ for New York. An outdoor exhibition of Fernando Botero’s sculpture on Park Avenue.

N-SING: a N, oft N for n

5.

The ~ you hear of something or the ~ you know about it is the time when you ~ become aware of it.

We heard it on the TV last night–that was the ~ we heard of it...

PRON: the PRON that

6.

You use ~ when you are talking about what happens in the early part of an event or experience, in contrast to what happens later.

When he ~ came home he wouldn’t say anything about what he’d been doing.

= initially

ADV: ADV before v

First is also an ordinal.

She told him that her ~ reaction was disgust...

ORD: usu poss ORD

7.

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 ~.

Marry that fat son of a fat cattle dealer? She would die ~!

ADV: ADV after v emphasis

8.

You use ~ when you are about to give the ~ in a series of items.

Certain guidelines can be given. First, have a heating engineer check the safety of the system.

ADV: ADV with cl/group

9.

The ~ thing, person, or place in a line is the one that is nearest to you or nearest to the front.

Before him, in the ~ row, sat the President...

First in the queue were two Japanese students.

? last

ORD

10.

You use ~ to refer to the best or most important thing or person of a particular kind.

The ~ duty of any government must be to protect the interests of the taxpayers...

Imagine winning the local lottery ~ prize of ?5,000.

ORD

11.

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 ~ mate of a British tanker.

ORD

12.

In British universities, a ~ is an honours degree of the highest standard.

...an Oxford Blue who took a First in Constitutional History.

N-COUNT: oft N in n

13.

You use ~ of all to introduce the ~ 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.

PHRASE: PHR with cl/group

14.

You use at ~ 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 ~, he seemed surprised by my questions...

I had some difficulty at ~ recalling why we were there.

= initially

PHRASE: PHR with cl

15.

If you say that someone or something comes ~ 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 ~.

PHRASE: V inflects

16.

If you learn or experience something at ~ hand, you experience it yourself or learn it directly rather than being told about it by other people.

He arrived in Natal to see at ~ hand the effects of the recent heavy fighting.

PHRASE: PHR after v

17.

If you say that you do not know the ~ thing about something, you are emphasizing that you know absolutely nothing about it.

You don’t know the ~ thing about farming.

PHRASE: V inflects emphasis

18.

If you put someone or something ~, you treat or consider them as more important than anything else.

Somebody has to think for the child and put him ~.

PHRASE: V inflects

19.

You say ‘~ things ~’ 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 ~; some music.

PHRASE

20.

~ and foremost: see foremost

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .