Synonyms

first refusal

British

noun

the chance of buying a house, merchandise, etc, before the offer is made to other potential buyers

"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.

SpaceX, like many other private firms, typically holds the right of first refusal.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 18, 2026

Texas Pacific will receive an equity interest in Bolt, warrants, and a right of first refusal to supply water to Bolt-affiliated projects.

From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025

“They offered no advance. The clause that I really should have taken out was the right of first refusal, which boxed me in,” she explained.

From Slate • Nov. 3, 2025

Only Kroenke, a minority owner in the franchise at the time, surprisingly swooped in by exercising his right of first refusal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

"Do you not forget the words of that first refusal," she asked, "that 'Beatrix de Beaumont grants neither gage nor favor until she plights her troth'?"

From Beatrix of Clare by Underwood, Clarence F.

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