Word.ws English Dictionary

first-hand

first-hand is the alternative form of firsthand.

Meaning of firsthand

Adjective

firsthand (not comparable)

  1. Direct, without intermediate stages.
    • firsthand knowledge
    Synonyms:
    primary
  2. Not previously owned or used; contrasted with secondhand.
    • a firsthand copy

See all 3 meanings of firsthand

Adverb

first-hand (not comparable)

  1. Directly or from personal experience.
    • Its primary role is to enable Network Rail's engineers, management and stakeholders to see the condition of the infrastructure and track first-hand - in the warm and dry, and in a position of safety.2022 December 14, Pip Dunn, “Caroline is ready for inspection...”, in RAIL, number 972, page 48

Questions about first-hand

What does first-hand mean?
First-hand means directly or from personal experience.
What is first-hand the alternative form of?
First-hand is the alternative form of firsthand.
What part of speech is first-hand?
First-hand is an adverb.

Words near first-hand in the dictionary

  1. first-foot
  2. first-footing
  3. first-foots
  4. first-generation
  5. first-half
  6. first-hand
  7. first-in first-out
  8. first-in, first-out
  9. first-in-first-out
  10. first-ladyship
  11. first-ladyships

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: first-hand (page history and authors); firsthand (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “first-hand.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/first-hand. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.