phrase B2 in or at the beginning (of a series of events): 最初，原本 The trousers shrank when I washed them, but they weren't really big enough in the first place.这条长裤洗过后缩水了，但是它原本就不够大。 Thankfully, he wasn't hurt, but he never should have been there in the first place.谢天谢地他没受伤，但是他原本就不应该到那儿去。 If you hadn't been so rude in the first place, none of this would have happened. These buildings should never have been built on this land in the first place. I began to wonder why I'd ever thought I was a good writer in the first place. See also
firstordinal numberdeterminer(BEFORE ALL OTHERS)
in the first place | American Dictionary
in the first place
idiom in the beginning: We should never have agreed to let him borrow the money in the first place.