get to first base

verb

To get as far as the first phase or milestone of a goal.

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Meanings

verbget to first base (third-person singular simple present gets to first base, present participle getting to first base, simple past got to first base, past participle (UK) got to first base or (US) gotten to first base)

present singular third person gets to first base · participle present getting to first base · past got to first base · UK participle past got to first base · US participle past gotten to first base

  1. idiomaticTo get as far as the first phase or milestone of a goal.

    We are not just people who "happen to be queer" — we are a terribly oppressed minority who will never get to first base in our battle for human and constitutional rights until we stop pretending that we are "like everyone else" and start fighting for our uniqueness.

    1979 April 28, J. Lee, “I'm Still Here”, in Gay Community News, page 5
  2. euphemisticidiomaticslangTo get as far as kissing in sexual advances.
Cite this entry
APA

get to first base. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20to%20first%20base

MLA

“get to first base.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20to%20first%20base. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get to first base,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20to%20first%20base.

Source: get to first base on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.