first and last

Idioms  

1. Under all circumstances, always, as in She was an artist first and last. (For a synonym, see above all.) This expression, first recorded in 1589, should not be confused with the similar-sounding from first to last, which means “from start to finish” or “throughout,” as in We cheered them on from first to last.

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Example Sentences

The buzz: Yasin Ayari scored the first and last of Sweden’s goals in the 5-1 win over Tunisia last week.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026

Randa Abdel-Fattah, the Australian-Palestinian writer whose disinvitation from a major literature festival in Adelaide sparked an uproar in January, said her upcoming book, Discipline, would be her "first and last book with UQP".

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

Historic freezes in 1894 and 1895 nearly eradicated the industry, its first and last real brush with old-world calamity.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

An example of Jeff Koons’s fluorescent-lighted vacuum cleaners from his “The New” series—the first and last interesting work he made—seems almost down-to-earth next to his other glittering, stainless-steel baubles here.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

The first and last time she went to see the cousins play the foreign game of basketball, the Matriarch had been horrified.

From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord