Top Definitions
Quiz
Examples
Idioms And Phrases

first come, first served

Save This Word!

Those who are first to arrive will be the first to be waited on.

VIDEO FOR FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED

Can You Correct These Idioms?

Have you ever heard the idiom it’s a doggie-dog world? Well that’s not the correct phrase. It’s actually dog-eat-dog world. Can you correct these other common idioms?

MORE VIDEOS FROM DICTIONARY.COM

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "IS" VS. "ARE"

"Is" it time for a new quiz? "Are" you ready? Then prove your excellent skills on using "is" vs. "are."

Question 1 of 7

IS and ARE are both forms of which verb?

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby first come, first served

First Cause, first-cause argument, first class, first classman, first-come, first come, first served, firstcomer, First Commandment, first consonant shift, first cousin, first cranial nerve

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

How to use first come, first served in a sentence

Fluoride first entered an American water supply through a rather inelegant technocratic scheme.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
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.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile, in Florida, Bush was flooded with questions about whether gay marriage could possibly come to the Sunshine State.
Jeb Bush’s Unseen Anti-Gay Marriage Emails|Jackie Kucinich|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

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
In their shelter, Brion and Ulv crouched low and wondered why the attack didn't come.
Sense of Obligation|Henry Maxwell Dempsey (AKA Harry Harrison)
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
Babylas raised his pale face; he knew what was coming; it had come so many times before.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini

Other Idioms and Phrases with first come, first served

first come, first served

Those who precede others will have their needs attended to earliest, as in So many people showed up that we may not have enough food to go around, so let it be “first come, first served.” The idea is very old, but the first recorded use of this precise phrase was in 1545. Also see early bird catches the worm.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.