first come, first served

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

Idioms and Phrases

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 .

Example Sentences

During four hours each day, patients were seen on a first-come-first-served basis, except in emergencies.

From Project Gutenberg