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first come, first served

Cultural

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

first come, first served Idioms

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

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first come, first served

Indoor seating is reserved at $25 a head, while the outdoor courtyard is first come, first served.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

A game will cost you $25 and is first come, first served.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2025

Tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics are on sale to everyone across the world, on a "first come, first served" basis.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2024

To impose some order on the chaos, the newcomers embedded in the state’s emerging water laws a cherished frontier principle: first come, first served.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 17, 2023

Skeezie: Has that bozo who took our order never heard of first come, first served?

From "The Misfits" by James Howe

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023