first port of call
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
The first place to visit or contact for help or information
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Nơi đầu tiên đến thăm hoặc liên hệ để giúp đỡ hoặc thông tin
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a port where a ship first docks
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The hotel's reception is usually the first port of call for tourists
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “first port of call” mean?
The first place to visit or contact for help or information Literally: a port where a ship first docks
Is “first port of call” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.