[syn: first, firstly, foremost, first of all, first off]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Foremost \Fore"most`\, a. [OE. formest first, AS. formest,
fyrmest, superl. of forma first, which is a superl. fr. fore
fore; cf. Goth. frumist, fruma, first. See Fore, adv., and
cf. First, Former, Frame, v. t., Prime, a.]
First in time or place; most advanced; chief in rank or
dignity; as, the foremost troops of an army.
[1913 Webster]
THat struck the foremost man of all this world. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
foremost
adv 1: prominently forward; "he put his best foot foremost"
[syn: foremost, first]
2: before anything else; "first we must consider the garter
snake" [syn: first, firstly, foremost, first of all,
first off]
adj 1: ranking above all others; "was first in her class"; "the
foremost figure among marine artists"; "the top graduate"
[syn: first, foremost, world-class]
2: preceding all others in spatial position; "the foremost
compartment of the ship" [syn: foremost, frontmost]
3: situated closest to the bow; "the foremost compartment of the
ship"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
90 Moby Thesaurus words for "foremost":
ahead, all-absorbing, antecedent, anterior, arch, banner, before,
best, capital, cardinal, central, champion, chief, controlling,
crowning, dominant, exordial, first, firstly, focal, fore,
foregoing, forehand, forward, front, frontal, great, head, heading,
headmost, hegemonic, highest, in advance, in front,
in the forefront, in the foreground, in the front, in the lead,
inaugural, initial, initiatory, leading, magisterial, maiden, main,
master, notable, noted, noteworthy, overriding, overruling,
paramount, precedent, preceding, precessional, precursory,
predominant, preeminent, prefatory, preliminary, preludial,
prelusive, premier, preparatory, preponderant, prevailing,
prevenient, primal, primarily, primary, prime, principal, prior,
proemial, prominent, propaedeutic, ranking, ruling, sovereign,
star, stellar, supereminent, superior, supreme, to the fore,
to the front, topflight, topmost, up ahead, uppermost