first come, first served

Cultural  

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

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first come, first served Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

The council said applications would be processed on a first come, first served basis and would close once all the money has been allocated.

From BBC • Jan. 5, 2026

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

Some member countries support reviewing applications on a first come first served basis, which would put China first, while others want to focus on the best application.

From Reuters • Jul. 14, 2023

The latter is free — first come, first served — to anyone with a Feeld profile.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2023

The rule was first come, first served, and there had been another call on the border collie.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen