at first

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Initially, at the start, as in At first the berries were green, but when they ripened they turned bright red. [Second half of 1500s]

QUIZZES

Did you ever collect all those state quarters? Put them to good use on this quiz about curious state monikers and the facts around them.

Question 1 of 8

Mississippi’s nickname comes from the magnificent trees that grow there. What is it?

Fluoride first entered an American water supply through a rather inelegant technocratic scheme.
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In the first episode, an officer is shown video of himself shooting and killing a man.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops|Melissa Leon|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But since those rosy scenarios were first floated, the California political scene has grown more crowded.
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Eric Garcetti succeeded Villaraigosa and has received high marks in his first year and a half on the job.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

He sees himself as the first Muslim president of all Europe.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This is the first and principal point at which we can stanch the wastage of teaching energy that now goes on.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
He was converted and baptized, and was the first Hebrew instructor at Harvard college.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
And I have not had the first morsel of food prepared from this grain offered me since I reached the shores of Europe.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
Now first we shall want our pupil to understand, speak, read and write the mother tongue well.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
In treble, second and fourth, the first change is a dodge behind; and the second time the treble leads, there's a double Bob.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman