n. 25B6; adjective
the first chapter : EARLIEST, initial, opening, introductory.
first principles : FUNDAMENTAL, basic, rudimentary, primary; key, cardinal, central, chief, vital, essential.
our first priority : FOREMOST, principal, highest, greatest, paramount, top, uppermost, prime, chief, leading, main, major; overriding, predominant, prevailing, central, core, dominant; informal number-one.
first prize : TOP, best, prime, premier, winner's, winning.
last, closing.
25B6; adverb
the room they had first entered : AT FIRST, to begin with, first of all, at the outset, initially.
she would eat first : BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE, first and foremost, now.
she wouldn't goshe'd die first! : IN PREFERENCE, sooner, rather, more willingly.
25B6; noun
from the first, surrealism was theatrical : THE (VERY) BEGINNING, the start, the outset, the commencement; informal the word go, the off.
(informal) it was a first for both of us : NOVELTY, new/first experience.