early bird

American  

noun

1. a person who rises at an early hour.

2. a person who arrives before others, as for the purpose of gaining some advantage.

   The early birds got the best seats for the play.

3. (initial capital letters) the first of the Intelsat series of communications satellites, orbited (1965) by Intelsat.

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Early Bird ¹ British  

noun

1. one of a number of communications satellites, the first of which was launched in 1965 into a stationary orbit and provided telephone channels between Europe and the US See also Intelsat

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early bird ² British  

noun

1. informal a person who rises early or arrives in good time

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Etymology

Origin of early bird

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

‘Ten o’clock it starts. The room will fill up over the next half an hour. These are the early birds who want to make sure they get a good seat!’

From Literature

I headed to the workshop, housed in an airy stone barn, and found I was not the lone early bird.

From The Wall Street Journal

Are you, like Lawler, an early bird up with the dawn?

From The Wall Street Journal

Some tracks may belong to meat eating predators, others to plant eating dinosaurs, and some have even raised questions about whether early bird species were involved.

From Science Daily

In contrast, "morning people," also known as early birds, showed a 5% lower prevalence of poor cardiovascular health scores compared with individuals without a strong morning or evening preference.

From Science Daily