first and foremost
For starters; to begin. First and foremost, I want to thank all of you for being here tonight. I think we need to tackle that part of the problem first and foremost. First and foremost, did everyone get a life preserver?
right foot foremost
Indicative of positive or favorable start. The phrase derives from a Roman superstition that one should enter a room with one's right foot first, so as to ensure good luck. In an effort to put my right foot foremost this semester, I've already begun to research for my thesis.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
first and foremost
Cliché first to be dealt with and most important. First and foremost, I think you should work harder on your biology. Have this in mind first and foremost: Keep smiling!
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
first and foremost
Also,
first of all. Most important, primarily; also, to begin with. For example,
First and foremost, I want to thank our sponsors, or
What we need, first and foremost, is a new secretary, or
We have to deal, first of all, with the early history. The first term, dating from the late 1300s, is redundant, since
first and
foremost mean virtually the same thing. Both it and the variant, which dates from the mid-1500s, are used to give emphasis to the initial item in a list of several. Also see
first off;
first thing.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ˌfirst and ˈforemost
before everything else; most importantly: First and foremost, we must ensure that the children are safe. ♢ Don’t forget, he is first and foremost an actor, not a singer.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
first and foremost
Most notable, most important. This tautological expression—first and foremost mean just about the same thing—has survived since the fifteenth century, when it was recorded in a work by William Caxton (1483). Deemed a cliché by the mid-nineteenth century, it is still popular with lecturers and others who like to enumerate the various points of their argument or elements of a list.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer