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"
having a quality that thrusts itself into attention; "an outstanding fact of our time is that nations poisoned by anti semitism proved less fortunate in regard to their own freedom"; "a new theory is the most prominent feature of the book"; "salient traits"; "a spectacular rise in prices"; "a striking thing about Picadilly Circus is the statue of Eros in the center"; "a striking resemblance between parent and child"
owed as a debt; "outstanding bills"; "the amount still owed"; "undischarged debts"
distinguished from others in excellence; "did outstanding work in human relations"; "an outstanding war record"
encountered generally especially at the present time; "the prevailing opinion was that a trade war could be averted"; "the most prevalent religion in our area"; "speculation concerning the books author was rife"