come first

Verb

Meaning

(idiomatic) To win first place in a competition.
Sally came first in the calligraphy competition.

(idiomatic) To be the most important thing to consider.
Don't forget: safety comes first.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Examples

Names and attributes must be accommodated to the essence of things, and not the essence to the names, since things come first and names afterwards. Galileo Galilei

The opponents of my budget propose taking $200 million out of our classrooms and instead spending it on a larger school employee pay raise. Our focus should be on making sure our children come first. Bob Riley

Turgenev: The names for things don't come first. Words stagger after, hopelessly trying to become the sensation. Tom Stoppard

It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it.' Audrey Hepburn

The preliminary outward movement of thought-holism-is everybit as necessary as the inward, atomizing one and in any investigation it usually needs to come first. Mary Midgley

My family really does come first. It always did and always will. Meryl Streep

Close letter words and terms