number one

noun

1. oneself, especially one's own well-being or interests:

   to look out for number one.

2. a person, company, etc., that is first in rank, order, or prestige:

   Our team is number one.

3. urination: used especially by or with reference to children.

adjective

1. of the highest in quality, status, importance, etc.; first-rate:

   a number one performance.

2. first in rank, order, or prestige:

   the number one book on the bestseller list.

number one

noun

1. the first in a series or sequence
2. an informal phrase for oneself myself

   to look after number one

3. informal.
   the most important person; leader, chief

   he's number one in the organization

4. informal.
   the bestselling pop record in any one week
5. euphemistic.
   the act or an instance of urination
6. a haircut in which the hair is cut very close to the head with an electric shaver

adjective

1. first in importance, urgency, quality, etc

   number one priority

2. informal.
   (of a pop record) having reached the top of the charts

Word History and Origins

Origin of number one¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. make / do / go number one, Informal. to urinate: used especially by or with reference to children.

Example Sentences

The musical promise of eternal youth sold to the tune of 5.5 million copies and five number-one singles.

From The Daily Beast

But after logging her eighth number-one single, Katy Perry might be the biggest pop star of her time.

From The Daily Beast

My husband in my number-one priority and I his; why would we want to change this so we can be slaves to a child?

From The Daily Beast

But the number-one thing rats want to be around is people, people who drop garbage on the ground.

From The Daily Beast

The voting portion of the contest ended yesterday, and I swept the number-one spot.

From The Daily Beast

What does a first-class A-number-one lawyer like Root care about facts if they ain't in his favor?

From Project Gutenberg

Roger hurried along with Astro to the number-one boat and climbed inside.

From Project Gutenberg

And she said these was A-Number-One beagles, being sure to get a rabbit if one was in the country.

From Project Gutenberg

You've got thirty tons of fuel—you want to find the compression ratio of the number-one firing-tube chamber—so what do you do?

From Project Gutenberg

Among them was his number-one boy, Kwong, who had served him faithfully for several years.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• champion
• winner