firstˈ-fruitˈ or first-fruitsˈ noun

1. The fruits first gathered in a season
2. First products or effects of anything
3. Payment in the form of first crops of a season, or annates, to a superior

first gear see under gear

first generation adjective (computing)

Of the early type of calculating and computing machine, using thermionic valves

firstˈ-hand adjective

Obtained directly, or in order to obtain (information, etc) directly, without an intermediary

first-handˈ adverb

first lady noun

1. The wife of the chief executive of a city, state or country, esp of the president of the USA, or any woman chosen by him to carry out official duties as hostess, etc (US; often with caps)
2. A prominent or leading woman in any field, profession, etc

first lieutenant noun

1. (in the Royal Navy) the executive officer, not necessarily a lieutenant, of a ship or naval establishment
2. (in the US Army, Air Force and Marine Corps) an officer next below a captain

first light noun

The time when daylight first appears in the morning

First Minister noun

The title given to the leader of the devolved administrations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales

first name noun

A person's Christian name, or the name that comes first in a full name

first night noun

The first public performance of a theatrical production

first-nightˈer noun

A person who habitually goes to the theatre on first nights

first offender noun

A person convicted for the first time

firstˈ-pastˈ-the-postˈ adjective

Denoting or relating to a system of voting in which each voter casts only one non-transferable vote, the candidate receiving the most votes being declared the winner

first person noun (grammar)

The writer or speaker

firstˈ-person adjective

first post noun (military)

The first of two bugle calls denoting the time for retiring for the night (cf last post under last¹)

firstˈ-rate adjective

1. Of highest rank or excellence
2. Pre-eminent in quality, size or estimation

noun

A warship so rated

first-rateˈ adverb

Excellently

first refusal noun

The chance to buy (esp property) before it is offered to others

first school noun

A school for children aged five to eight, nine or ten

first strike noun

A pre-emptive attack on an enemy, intended to destroy their nuclear weapons before they can be brought into use

firstˈ-strike adjective

firstˈ-time adjective

1. Immediate
2. Carrying out an action, eg the purchase of a house, for the first time

first water noun

The first or highest quality, or purest lustre, of diamonds and pearls (also figurative)

First World noun

The richest and most technologically developed countries of the world

first year allowance noun

An amount of capital expenditure which can be set against tax in the accounts relating to the actual year of spending

at first

At the beginning, in the early stages, etc

first cab off the rank (informal)

The first choice, the first to do something

first in, first out (computing)

Denoting a list for which insertions are made at one end and deletions at the other

first thing

Before doing anything else

not know the first thing about

To know nothing about

fruit (obsolete fruict) /froot/

noun

1. The produce of the earth, which supplies the needs of humans and animals
2. An edible part of a plant, generally sweet, acid and juicy, esp a part that contains the seed, but sometimes extended to include other parts (eg the flower-stalk in a strawberry), and popularly distinguished from the vegetable, its savoury, firm-fleshed counterpart
3. A fructification, esp the structure that develops from the ovary and its contents after fertilization, sometimes including also structures formed from other parts of the flower or axis (botany)
4. The offspring of animals (archaic)
5. (often in pl) product, effect or advantage
6. A male homosexual (derog sl, esp US)

intransitive verb

To produce fruit

fruitˈage noun (archaic)

1. Fruit collectively
2. Fruits

fruitāˈrian noun

A person who lives on fruit (also adjective)

fruitˈed adjective

1. Containing fruit
2. Having produced fruit

fruitˈer noun

1. A fruiterer (now dialect)
2. A tree, etc as a producer of fruit, as in good fruiter
3. A fruit-grower

fruitˈerer noun

A person who deals in fruit

fruitˈeress noun (rare)

A female fruiterer

fruitˈery noun

1. A place for storing fruit
2. Fruitage

fruitˈful adjective

Productive

fruitˈfully adverb

fruitˈfulness noun

fruitˈiness noun

fruitˈing noun

The process of bearing, or coming into, fruit

fruitˈless adjective

1. Barren, sterile
2. Without profit
3. Useless
4. In vain

fruitˈlessly adverb

fruitˈlessness noun

fruitˈlet noun

1. A small fruit
2. One of the small fruit-like parts that forms an aggregate or multiple fruit

fruitˈy adjective

1. Like, or tasting like, fruit
2. Rich
3. (of a voice) mellow or resonant
4. Salacious, saucy or smutty (informal)
5. Crazy (US inf)
6. Homosexual (informal, esp US)

fruit bat noun

Any bat of the suborder Megacheiroptera, large fruit-eating bats of the Old World

fruit body see fruiting body below.

fruitˈ-bud noun

A bud that produces fruit

fruit cage noun

An enclosure with mesh sides and a roof to protect growing fruit and vegetables from birds, etc

fruitˈcake noun

1. A cake containing dried fruit
2. A slightly mad person (informal)

fruit cocktail noun

A fruit salad, esp one of small, usu diced, pieces of fruit

fruit fly noun

A fly of the genus Drosophila that feeds on decaying fruit

fruiting body noun (botany)

A seed or spore-bearing structure, eg the large spore-bearing structures of many fungi (also fruit body)

fruitˈ-knife noun

A small knife with a blade of silver, etc for cutting fruit

fruit machine noun

A coin-operated gaming machine found in amusement arcades, pubs, etc in which chance must match with any of a variety of stated winning combinations the pictures, traditionally of different fruits, on a set of revolving wheels

fruit salad noun

A mixture of pieces of fruit, fresh or preserved

fruit sugar noun

Fructose

fruit tree noun

A tree yielding edible fruit

fruitˈwood noun

The wood of a fruit tree (also adjective)

bear fruit (figurative)

To have eventual success

bush fruits

Small fruits growing on woody bushes

first-fruits see under first and see annates

in fruit

Bearing fruit

old fruit see under old

small or soft fruit or fruits

Strawberries, blackcurrants, etc