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first-order

British

adjective

logic quantifying only over individuals and not over predicates or clauses: first-order predicate calculus studies the logical properties of such quantification

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The first-order winners may not be the flashiest robot brands.

From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026

That rationale relies on a first-order analysis that ignores the structural realities of modern, interconnected supply chains.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

Currently, first-order risks look largely similar to 2022 at the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when war policy exposure among Lloyd’s companies was minimal, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 3, 2026

Equally, if the first-order problem is the car - as it seems to be - why blame the driver?

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2025

A first-order issue is how can we augment or improve the use of existing military capability should it be required.

From Shock and Awe — Achieving Rapid Dominance by Wade, James P.

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