variants or first year
plural first-years or first years
: a student in the first year (as at a high school or college) : a first-year student
Experts say fledgling first-years can expect to experience the thrill of autonomy, of being in the driver's seat for what may be the first time ever.Jan McCoy Ebbets

Examples of first-year in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
And whenever this season ends, even if that’s after a 16-game run to the national championship game, this crop of recruits might play the least of any Freeman first-year haul. Pete Sampson, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026 Now Daniels becomes the third consecutive first-year transfer trying to solve a quarterback problem that increasingly looks like something much bigger. Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 Aug. 2026 The Jaguars were a surprise team under the tutelage of first-year coach Liam Coen, winning their final eight regular season games en route to a 13-4 record. Nbc Sports, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2026 Today’s Four Questions interviewee is first-year North Springs coach Walter Vaughn, whose team defeated Riverwood 48-12 last week. Todd Holcomb, AJC.com, 25 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for first-year

Word History

First Known Use

1986, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of first-year was in 1986

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Cite this Entry

“First-year.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/first-year. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

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