.first-'ever adj. [only before noun]
never having happened or been experienced before tflAfft: his first-ever
visit to
the .first 'family noun [sing.] the family of
the President of the
.first 'finger noun = index finger .first 'floor (usually the first
floor) noun [sing.] 1 (BrE)
the
level of a building above the ground level A
(ft—H: Menswear is on the first floor. % X M „
2
(NAmE) = ground floor ► .first-'floor adj. [only before noun]: a
first-floor flat/apartment — ^ (ft— o note at floor
.first-'foot verb [VN] to be the first
person to enter sb’s house in the New Year. First-footing is a
Scottish custom. ( )
ft*Sr¥S&-m&£?¥i&Mirst-
'footer noun
'first fruit noun [usually pi.] the
first result of sb’s work or effort (x#,
.first generation noun [sing.] 1 people
who have left their country to go and live in a new country; the children of
these people ( j£K;(ft ) £5—ft;
(ft A ft; 2 the first type of a machine to be
developed
( iff M fiL tl ^ ) %
— ft : the first generation of personal computers
H —ftAAffeJ® ►
.first-gene ration adj.: first-generation Caribbeans in the
.first- hand [only before noun] obtained or experienced yourself H
— ^ (ft; Jl ££ (ft: to have
first-hand experience of poverty A # W —compare
second-hand ► first-'hand adv.: to experience
poverty first-hand
.first 'lady noun [usually sing.] 1 the First Lady (in the
('#H£(ft'AA ) 3 the woman who is thought to be the best in a
particular profession, sport, etc. ( Jk,
lady of country music
.first 'language noun the language that you
learn to speak first as a child; the language that you speak best ip W: His
first language is Welsh,
±i§o
— compare second language .first
lieu'tenant noun 1 an officer in the navy
with responsibility for managing a ship, etc. 2
an
officer in the
a person who is the
next most important to sb .first 'light noun [U] the time when
light first appears in the morning ^ ^
$£ ; Hg ft PH?i dawn, daybreak: We left at first
light. Ao
WHICH WORD?
firstly♦first of all * at first
*
Firstly and first (of all) are used to introduce
a series of facts, reasons, opinions, etc. * firstly ffl first (of all) a*, The
brochure is divided into two sections, dealing firstly with basic courses and
secondly with advanced ones.
mne, hasp
fo1$lkMQkMM0 Firstly is more common in BrE than in NAmE. * firstly IfcfclfcHISiS*
■
At first is used to talk about
the situation at the beginning of a period of time, especially when you are
comparing it with a different situation at a later period. * at
first JEW gift
Jn
A (ft Xf§11f #£ Maggie had seen him nearly
every day at first. Now she saw him much less. fSfUJSj
firstly /‘f3:stli; NAmE
‘f3:rst-/ adv. used to introduce the first of a list of points you want
to make in a speech or
piece of writing ( X M
A ) % —, IrA: There are two reasons for this decision:
firstly ... M jtfc A /£ M & W
X:
%—■
.first ‘mate (also first ‘officer) noun the officer on a
commercial ship just below the rank of captain or MASTER ( ) All
.first ‘minister (also .First ’Minister) noun the leader of the
ruling political party in some regions or countries, for example in
'first name (also 'given name especially in NAmE) noun a name that was given to
you when you were born, that comes before your family name ^ ^ : His first name is Tom
and his surname is Green.
o o Please give all
your first names, i# dj fcfe \X (ft o 0 (BrE) to be on
first-name terms with sb (= to call them by their first name as a
sign of a friendly informal relationship) 0 (NAmE) to be
on a first-name basis
.First 'Nations noun [pi.] (CanE) the
Aboriginal peoples of
.first 'night noun 1 the
first public performance of a play, film/movie, etc. (-jftjgij, fef^lft )
M 2 (NAmE) a public celebration of New Year’s Eve §ff
.first offender noun a person who has been
found guilty of a crime for the first time ffl 3E .first 'officer noun = first mate ,first-,past-the-'post adj. [only before noun] (of a system of
elections $5
ffcij) in which only the person who gets the most votes is elected — com
pare
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION the .first 'person noun [sing.] 1 (grammar iff A) a set of pronouns
and verb forms used by a speaker to refer to himself or herself, or to a group
including himself or herself % — A^: ‘I am’ is the
first person singular of the present tense of the verb ‘to be’. * I am jtzj/jis] to be JJ> 4 frf (ft %
— A #• Wi
o 0 T, ‘me’, ‘we’ and ‘us’ are first-person pronouns. * I, me, we fP us — Affcft IS] 0 2 a way
of writing a novel, etc. as if one of the characters is telling the story using
the word 7 A
f^IXidllft A'A: a novel written in the first person — Alfc^.fFfft/M#, —compare
second person, third
PERSON
.first 'principles noun [pi.] the basic ideas
on which a theory, system or method is based jjlij: I think we should go
back to first principles. iA A
.first-'rate adj. of the highest quality
003 excellent
: a first-rate swimmer o The food here is
absolutely first-rate.
.first re'fusal noun [U] (BrE) the right to decide
whether to accept or refuse sth before it is offered to others ft : Will you give me
first refusal on the car, if you decide to sell it? A, £p^f£A!$l
'first school noun (in
AA5 M8, )
.first 'sergeant noun an officer of middle
rank in the USarmy )
.first 'strike noun an attack on an enemy
made before they attack you AAftJA; tAA/MA 'first-time adj. [only before noun] doing or experiencing sth for the first
time If" IX (ft ; M ~~ IX (ft : houses
for first-time buyers 0 a computer
program designed for
first-time users A !U Tfc ^ it
(ft
.first-'timer noun a person who does sth
for the first time |JJ#; • • ■ #: conference first-timers %) AAA- A fn.
the .First World
'War (also
.World
War ’I) noun [sing.] the war that was fought mainly in