in the first place
Idioms-
From the beginning, at the outset, before anything else. For example, Why didn't you tell me in the first place that you've decided to leave? or He could have bought a new one in the first place .
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As the first of several items in order of importance. This phrase is usually accompanied by in the second place, third place , and so on, as in I'm not joining the health club because, in the first place, I don't like their hours, and in the second place, I can't afford the dues . [First half of 1600s] Also see for one .
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.
Was the hope you carried home with you ever really possible in the first place?
From Salon • Jun. 30, 2026
Rather than trying to eliminate Tau entirely, future treatments might stop it from reaching healthy brain cells in the first place.
From Science Daily • Jun. 30, 2026
The legal process Congress created never begins, not because the claim has been heard and rejected, but because the government has prevented the statutory obligation to hear it from arising in the first place.
From Slate • Jun. 26, 2026
While that issue isn’t about monetary policy, it overlaps with the more sensitive question of who runs the banks in the first place.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
“But I have no idea how it happened in the first place, and I haven’t been able to make it happen since.”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
