put one's own oxygen mask on first
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Prioritize one's own needs before helping others
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Ưu tiên nhu cầu của bản thân trước khi giúp đỡ người khác
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: securing one's own oxygen supply
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
In emergency situations, put your own oxygen mask on first
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 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “put one's own oxygen mask on first” mean?
Prioritize one's own needs before helping others Literally: securing one's own oxygen supply
Is “put one's own oxygen mask on first” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.