first-class
[furst-klas, -klahs]
- of the highest or best class or quality: a first-class movie.
- best-equipped and most expensive: a first-class railroad car.
- given or entitled to preferred treatment, handling, etc.: first-class mail.
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- by first-class conveyance: to travel first-class.
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Origin of first-class
First recorded in 1780–90
first class
- the best, finest, or highest class, grade, or rank.
- the most expensive and most luxurious class of accommodation on trains, ships, airplanes, etc.
- (in the U.S. Postal Service) the class of mail consisting of letters, postal cards, or the like, together with all mailable matter sealed against inspection.
- British University. the group receiving the highest distinction in an honors course.
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Origin of first class
First recorded in 1740–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for first-class
Contemporary Examples
There was a first-class lounge with a sunken well and cocktail bar.
I got a first-class ticket to New York, which I was into already.
'The Knick' Star Eve Hewson on Being Bono's Daughter and Injecting Cocaine Into Clive Owen's PenisKevin Fallon
August 7, 2014
He purchased two first-class tickets on the France, a luxury liner passage to England, for his new girlfriend and himself.
But irregular Ukrainian troops armed with first-class rifles, mortars, and explosive devices would do Russian troops great damage.
A lot of girls become models because there is the alluring, if distant, promise of first-class, all-designer everything.
Historical Examples
But for first-class highwaymen yarns, this other edition is the best.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
A first-class ticket he took, and a first-class compartment he entered.
The ChanningsMrs. Henry Wood
If it gets broken, send it to none but a first-class machinist for repairs.
By trade he was a wood-carver, and a first-class hand at his job.
Adventures and RecollectionsBill o'th' Hoylus End
The canon responded with some restraint and then stepped into a first-class carriage.
The ChristianHall Caine
first class
- the class or grade of the best or highest value, quality, etc
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- of the best or highest class or gradea first-class citizen
- excellent; first-rate
- of or denoting the most comfortable and expensive class of accommodation in a hotel, aircraft, train, etc
- (in Britain) of or relating to mail that is processed most quickly
- (in the US and Canada) of or relating to mail that consists mainly of written letters, cards, etc
- education See first (def. 10)
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- by first-class mail, means of transportation, etc
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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