first-place
first-place — 慣用語
1. if something takes or comes first place, you treat it as the thing that matters
最重要；居次
視為最重要的事；或退居次要
if something takes or comes first place, you treat it as the thing that matters more than anything else; the opposite phrase 'take second place' means you treat it as less important than something else
For Yumi, family always takes first place, even during her busiest weeks at the hospital.
對 Yumi 來說，家人永遠最重要，就算她在醫院最忙的幾週也一樣。
take first place + abstract subject (family, work, study)
Safety must take first place over speed when the rescue team enters a collapsed building.
當救援隊進入倒塌的建築時，安全必須擺在第一位，速度只能其次。
take first place over + competing priority
Once the twins were born, Darius's weekend football matches took second place to changing nappies.
雙胞胎一出生，Darius 週末的足球賽就退居次要，先去換尿布。
Imran reminded the students that honest work should come first place, well ahead of grades.
Imran 提醒學生：誠實的努力才是最重要的，成績遠遠排在後面。
Profit took second place when the small bakery decided to keep its older staff during the recession.
這間小麵包店在經濟不景氣時決定留住資深員工，獲利只能擺在其次。
- come first
shorter and more conversational; works in the same priority-ranking sense
- take priority
slightly more formal; common in workplace or policy contexts
- be paramount
formal and emphatic; usually written, not spoken
- take a back seat
the most natural opposite of 'take first place'; means to become less important
文法句型
take first place
come first place
X takes first place over Y
take second place to X
用法筆記
Subject is usually an abstract priority (family, safety, money, health, work). Distinguish from the literal sports sense of 'first place' meaning the winning position in a race — this figurative idiom is about importance ranking, not finishing order.