first-rate

alternative first rate

1. UKhistoricalnot comparablegovernmentOf a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having at least 100 guns across three gun decks, a complement of 850–875, and weighing approximately 2,500 tons burthen.
2. idiomaticnot comparableSuperb, exceptional; of the best sort; very high quality.

   Our only first-rate body of contemporary poetry is the German.

   1867, Matthew Arnold, On the Study of Celtic Literature

   2 more examples

   He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2

   "I once did something right. I played first-rate basketball. I really did. And after you're first-rate at something, no matter what, it kind of takes the kick out of being second-rate."

   1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 92

   Synonyms: amazing, magnificent, splendid, ace, admirable, amazing, awe-inspiring, awesome

plural first-rates · alternative first rate

1. UKhistoricalgovernmentA first-rate ship of the line.