WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
in the first place adv 1: before now; "why didn't you tell me in the first place?" [syn: in the first place, earlier, in the beginning, to begin with, originally] 2: of primary import; "this is primarily a question of economics"; "it was in the first place a local matter" [syn: primarily, in the first place] [ant: secondarily]