the first element in a countable series; "the first of the month"
the first or highest in an ordering or series; "He wanted to be the first"
being the gear producing the lowest drive speed; "use first gear on steep hills"
ranking above all others; "was first in her class"; "the foremost figure among marine artists"; "the top graduate"
preceding all others in time or space or degree; "the first house on the right"; "the first day of spring"; "his first political race"; "her first baby"; "the first time"; "the first meetings of the new party"; "the first phase of his training"
highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections; "first soprano"; "the first violin section"; "played first horn"
indicating the beginning unit in a series
before anything else; "first we must consider the garter snake"
the initial time; "when Felix first saw a garter snake"
before another in time, space, or importance; "I was here first"; "let's do this job first"
closely similar or comparable in kind or quality or quantity or degree; "curtains the same color as the walls"; "two girls of the same age"; "mother and son have the same blue eyes"; "animals of the same species"; "the same rules as before"; "two boxes having the same dimensions"; "the same day next year"
same in identity; "the same man I saw yesterday"; "never wore the same dress twice"; "this road is the same one we were on yesterday"; "on the same side of the street"
a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance