dead first

English

Adjective

dead first (not comparable)

1. (rare, possibly nonstandard) First, especially first place in a competition.

   Synonym: dead last

   • 1987, "Snake tale didn't have a leg to stand on," Lexington Herald Leader (Kentucky, USA), 15 Oct. (retrieved 20 Oct 2010):

     But when the Great Kroger Bagoff ended the other day at the Alexandria Drive store it was 22-year-old Daniel Vichitbandha who finished dead first.

   • 1990, Isaac Asimov, “Editorial: Sharing Universes”, in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, volume 140, page 5:

     When I was going through basic training in the army, we had some physical tests, running, pushups, and such like stuff, and I finished dead last by a sizable margin. We also had an intelligence test, and I finished dead first, again by a sizable margin.

   • 1998 November 5, Len Boselovic, "Pittsburgh's Tax Bite 4th Highest of 27 Big U.S. Cities", in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, page E-7:

     Pittsburgh had finished second in the software firm's 1993 study, when Philadelphia also finished dead first.

   • 2007, Kathy Sherwin, Road Race - The Hell of the North, blogspot.com, 7 April (retrieved 20 Oct. 2010):

     Once [sic] race I came in dead first and the other dead last.

   • 2010 October 17, Derek Estes, “Upset Alert: Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Rams Bucking the Odds at Halftime”, in Bleacher Report, retrieved 20 October 2010:

     The Rams, meanwhile, finished dead first in last year's NFL Draft.

Usage notes

• Sometimes used in conjunction with dead last for humorous contrast.