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first come, first served - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

first come, first served

  1. (idiomatic) One will be dealt with in the order in which one arrives.
    • 2020 January 2, Philip Haigh, “Is there relief to congestion along Castlefield Corridor?”, in Rail, page 22:

      This complicated situation means that strategically managing services through the central Manchester area and beyond is not possible for signallers in the Greater Manchester area, and trains are invariably dealt with on a 'first come, first served' basis.

people will be dealt with in the order they arrive

  • Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 99.

first come, first served (not comparable)

  1. Alternative spelling of first-come-first-served