English Phrase of the Day

at first

Definitions

English > English
at first
1. prep. Initially; at the start.
If at first you don't succeed, do it like your father told you.
Analysis
at
1. prep. In, near, or in the general vicinity of a particular place.
Caesar was at Rome; at the corner of Fourth Street and Vine; at Jim’s house
2. prep. (indicating time) (Indicating occurrence in an instant of time or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker's perspective.)
at six o’clock; at closing time; at night.
3. prep. In the direction of (often in an unfocused or uncaring manner).
first
1. adj. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.
The first day of September 2013 was a Sunday.
I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race.
2. adj. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.
Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece.

At first he wouldn't do it.

A man once told me he loved me, but I knew he didn't you see because at first my heart stayed with him reluctantly, and only for a short while.

Yeah, but at first I thought it was a subway.

It seems at first a very different kind of book from its predecessors.

He is mumbling at first, you can't understand.

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