first in first out

alternative first-in-first-out · alternative first-in first-out · alternative first in, first out · alternative first-in, first-out

1. uncountableaccountingA method of inventory accounting that values items withdrawn from inventory at the cost of the oldest item assumed to remain in inventory.
2. uncountablemanagementA policy of assigning priority to tasks and assignments that have arrived for service first.

   1 more example

   To the onlooker, and particularly to those whose memories go back to pre-grouping days, the modern cavalcade of "V2s" and "B1s" is apt to become a little monotonous; but to any running man the general utility characteristics of these two classes are a perfect godsend at times of exceptional pressure, when it is often a case of "first in—first out" with locomotive allocations at sheds.

   1949 November and December, O. S. Nock, “Twenty-Four Hours at York—2”, in Railway Magazine, pages 357–358

3. uncountablecomputingA type of queue data structure in which the oldest added items are retrieved first.

   Synonyms: FIFO