first-rate meaning: definition, quotations

first-rate

adj

Government, Military, Nautical, Politics, Transport, War UK, Historical Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having at least 100 guns across three gun decks, a complement of 850–875, and weighing approximately 2,500 tons burthen.

Idiomatic Superb, exceptional; of the best sort; very high quality.

Our only first-rate body of contemporary poetry is the German.1867, Matthew Arnold, On the Study of Celtic Literature:
He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2:

1 more example

"I once did something right. I played first-rate basketball. I really did. And after you're first-rate at something, no matter what, it kind of takes the kick out of being second-rate."1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 92:

Derived terms: first-rateness, first-rater
Related terms: a-number-one, fifth-rate, fourth-rate, second-rate, sixth-rate, third-rate, top notch, top of the line