first-aid

IPA/ˌfɜːst ˈeɪd/
IPA/ˌfɜːrst ˈeɪd/

first-aid — noun

1. simple medical help given to someone who has been hurt or has suddenly become si

1.nounB1
Definition

simple medical help given to someone who has been hurt or has suddenly become sick, before a doctor or an ambulance arrives

Example

After cutting his finger on a broken glass, Eli asked his roommate for first-aid.

ask + for + first-aid

The hiking group carried a first-aid backpack with bandages and antiseptic wipes.

attributive: first-aid + backpack

Common collocations
  • give first-aid
  • receive first-aid
  • perform first-aid
  • administer first-aid
  • trained in first-aid
  • first-aid kit
  • first-aid course
  • first-aid training
  • first-aid box
  • first-aid manual
  • first-aid procedures
  • first-aid equipment
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

give + first-aid

receive + first-aid

first-aid + noun (attributive)

Usage Note

Often used attributively before another noun (first-aid kit, first-aid course, first-aid training). The hyphen is common in attributive position but many writers drop it after the noun. The same concept covers both standalone use ('give first-aid') and attributive use ('a first-aid kit').

Common Mistakes

I gave him a first-aid.
I gave him first-aid.
first-aid is uncountable and does not take an indefinite article.
She took first-aid class.
She took a first-aid class.
when used as a modifier, the noun it modifies still needs its own article or determiner.
I need to buy a first-aid.
I need to buy a first-aid kit.
the phrase is incomplete without a head noun when referring to an object.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

First-aid (often written first aid without a hyphen) is the broad term for simple medical help given immediately after an accident or sudden illness, typically by a non-professional. Emergency care is a wider concept that includes both first-aid and professional treatment in hospital emergency rooms — it implies a higher level of medical training and resources. Basic life support (BLS) is a specific subset of first-aid that focuses on life-threatening situations, especially CPR, clearing blocked airways, and keeping a person breathing until paramedics arrive. For example, putting a bandage on a small cut is first-aid but not BLS; performing chest compressions on someone who has collapsed is both first-aid and basic life support.

emergency carebasic life supportfirst aid (without hyphen)

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • first-aid kit
  • first-aid course
  • first-aid training
  • first-aid box
  • first-aid manual

Prepositions

  • in first-aid
  • for first-aid
  • with first-aid

Etymology

Old EnglishOld FrenchLatinEnglish

First-aid combines first (Old English fyrst, meaning 'earliest' or 'before others') and aid (from Old French aide, meaning 'help', ultimately from Latin adjutare 'to help'). The phrase was first used by the St John Ambulance Association in the 1870s to describe the basic medical care taught to volunteers before professional doctors arrived.

First known use

1867

1867, in the meaning defined above