Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Foremost in quality, rank, or importance.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of the first class or rate; especially, of the highest excellence; preëminent in quality or estimation.
- noun Something rated among the first or in the first class; specifically, a war-ship of the first or most powerful rating or class.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of the highest excellence; preëminent in quality, size, or estimation.
- noun (Naut.) A war vessel of the highest grade or the most powerful class.
- adjective of the highest quality.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun military, nautical, historical A
ship of the line in the British navy that had over 100 guns on three gun decks - adjective military, nautical, historical Describing a
ship of the line in the British navy that had over 100 guns on three gundecks - adjective by extension Exceptionally
good
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb quite well
- adjective of the highest quality
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word first-rate.
Examples
-
No country has achieved first-rate health care, or strong transportation infrastructure, or pioneering scientific research without the help of government.
The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010
-
Today, older Americans do have independent lives and first-rate medical care.
The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010
-
Today, older Americans do have independent lives and first-rate medical care.
The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010
-
Today, older Americans do have independent lives and first-rate medical care.
The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010
-
No country has achieved first-rate health care, or strong transportation infrastructure, or pioneering scientific research without the help of government.
The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010
-
No country has achieved first-rate health care, or strong transportation infrastructure, or pioneering scientific research without the help of government.
The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010
-
Aficionados may guess the killer early on, but the first-rate characters and chilling story are entrancing from start to finish.
The Crossing Places: Summary and book reviews of The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths. 2010
-
All of this may sound dry, but Ms. Hvistendahl is a first-rate reporter and has filled "Unnatural Selection" with gripping details.
The War Against Girls Jonathan V. Last 2011
-
A first-rate reporter in his day, Waldman covers an enormous amount of ground, despite the fact the final product is pared down from the scope of the intended report.
Eric Alterman: The FCC's New 'Local' Focus: Too Little, Too Late? Eric Alterman 2011
-
He is a first-rate composer, whether writing for the movie screen or his own quintet or, better yet, some combination of both.
From Melodies to Medleys Will Friedwald 2011
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.