at first
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English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file) Audio (Mid-Atlantic US): (file)
Prepositional phrase
[edit]- (idiomatic) Initially; at the start.
- If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 51:
- “Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.
- 1978, Dino Fekaris, Freddie Perren (lyrics and music), “I Will Survive”, performed by Gloria Gaynor:
- At first I was afraid, I was petrified / Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side
- 1996, “Return to Grace”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 4, episode 14 (Science Fiction), →OCLC:
- KIRA: Look, Dukat, I know you're angry, but maybe you ought to think about what you're proposing. I mean, you can't go to war against the whole Klingon Empire with one bird of prey.
DUKAT: Why not? Your people fought against us for fifty years with much less sophisticated weaponry than this. And you beat us.
KIRA: It's not the same. The Bajoran people were united. We were all fighting for the same goal. You and your crew would be out there alone.
DUKAT: Maybe at first, but perhaps our actions would inspire others to join the struggle!
Synonyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:initially
Translations
[edit]initially; at the start
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