first light
noun
: the time when light is first seen in the morning : dawn
She was up at first light.
Examples of first light in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Thirteen million people had clicked by first light.
—
Ariel Levy, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
Hubble enters the fray Edwin Hubble joined the Mount Wilson Observatory team in California in 1919, just two years after the observatory’s Hooker Telescope, which was the largest telescope in the world at that time, had seen first light.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 17 Jan. 2025
Rubin’s first light Image Astronomers atop a mountain in central Chile are wrapping up construction of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which might capture its first views of the night sky this year, as early as July 4.
—Michael Roston, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2025
What the folklore says is that the vampire must return to its grave before first light.
—Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for first light 
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.
Ariel Levy, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
Hubble enters the fray Edwin Hubble joined the Mount Wilson Observatory team in California in 1919, just two years after the observatory’s Hooker Telescope, which was the largest telescope in the world at that time, had seen first light.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 17 Jan. 2025
Rubin’s first light Image Astronomers atop a mountain in central Chile are wrapping up construction of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which might capture its first views of the night sky this year, as early as July 4.
—Michael Roston, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2025
What the folklore says is that the vampire must return to its grave before first light.
—Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for first light
Dictionary Entries Near first light
Cite this Entry
“First light.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/first%20light. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share