first stringn.adj.
/ˌfəːs(t) ˈstrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌfərs(t) ˈstrɪŋ/ A. n.
Sport. Originally: the best or fastest racehorse belonging to a specified owner or trainer. Hence: the best or most talented athlete, player, etc., in a team, spec. one chosen to represent the team in a race or match. Later also: a team's favoured starting line-up, composed of the players who are considered the best in their respective positions. Cf. string n. 4d.
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society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [noun] > players by ability
second string1643
first string1865
all-star1893
finalist1898
qualifier1908
seed1931
blue chip1958
blue-chipper1958
danger man1976
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > racehorse > with particular qualities or faults
sticker1779
rogue1796
first string1865
coward1880
mudder1892
goat1894
morning-glory1898
mud runner1905
mudlark1906
squib1908
1865 Sporting Gaz. 9 Sept. 696/1 The only other bet on the race that came to our knowledge was 500 to 55 about Mr. Chaplin's ‘first string,’ Breadalbane.
1880 Bell's Life in London 24 Jan. 5/1 E. C. Trepplin..just won by a foot, the Cambridge ‘first string,’ G. P. Hoffmeister (Caius), being third, a couple of yards behind.
1882 London Bicycle Club Gaz. 11 May 76/2 Oxford would have had a better chance of victory had they..not made their first string in the ten miles ride in the two miles just before.
1906 Princeton Alumni Weekly 3 Nov. 102/1 The first string in the backfield now is E. Dillon, Harlan, Rulon-Miller and McCormick.., a fairly strong combination.
1986 Guardian 27 Oct. 27/6 His second string, Love the Groom, in finishing third, did far better than the first string, Arabian Sheik.
2001 D. J. Feeney Motifs vi. 114 His excellent play resulted not only in making the first string, but a full four-year scholarship to college.
B. adj.
Sport. Of or relating to the first string; designating an athlete, player, etc., selected as or belonging to the first string. Frequently in extended use: designating persons of exceptional talent or renown in their fields; leading, foremost; first-rate.
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society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [adjective] > by ability
strongOE
scrub1867
all-star1889
stiff1890
first string1892
plus1906
match-winning1908
all-time1910
seeded1922
front line1939
sharpshooting1948
world-class1950
uncapped1955
storming1961
1892 Liverpool Mercury 9 Apr. 7/8 Stogdon led during the first lap, but the first-string men then closed up.
1920 Mich. Alumnus Dec. 188/1 Many had figured Goetz as certain of a first string position.
1932 Times 9 July 4/7 In the first-string match S. H. Bastow (Cambridge) beat G. E. Curtis (Oxford) by three sets to one.
1938 Life 11 July 38/2 This scant handful of first-string German artists managed to survive.
1960 Eval. Agric. Res. (U.S. Dept. Agric. Misc. Publ. No. 816) ii. 16/2 The kind of research contemplated..cannot be accomplished with second-string scientists nor with first-string scientists overburdened with routine laboratory tasks.
1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 21 Oct. He [sc. a horse] recovered from it in time to resume racing..in August, finishing third with Robin Platts, Stafford's first-string rider.
1996 Toronto Star (Nexis) 22 Nov. d3 He's supported by first-string acting veterans who make the most of thankless roles that could have been cardboard.
2006 M. Lewis Blind Side (2007) x. 282 Then they switched their first-string quarterback out for their second-string quarterback.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1865