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

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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

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