OF THE FIRST WATER Definition & Meaning

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of the first water

Of the finest quality, as in That was a play of the first water. This idiom refers to a grading system for diamonds for their color or luster (compared to the shininess of water). The system is no longer used but the term, used figuratively since the early 1800s, has survived it.

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Example Sentences

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The turning point came in the 1970s with the Clean Water Act, which introduced some of the first water pollution regulations.

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“When it comes to ‘coercion,’ the coercer of the first water is the United States,” it said.

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The small park has not only adapted to recent technologies but paved the way, like with the addition of one of the first water coaster hybrids in the world.

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Though Whistledown calls Daphne “a diamond of the first water,” it is here that our cynical narrator reminds us that “the brighter a lady shines, the faster she may burn.”

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Song: “Thank U, Next,” originally by Ariana Grande, cover version by Vitamin String Quartet When it plays: Grande’s ode to her past relationships is heard in the pilot episode, “Diamond of the First Water,” as London’s eligible debutantes arrive for a ball at Danbury House.

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high-quality��
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of the essence of the kind

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