How to Use first law in a Sentence

first law

noun
Definition of first lawnext
  • This observation broke the the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
    — Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 15 June 2022
  • In 1975, Congress passed the first law that guaranteed disabled children a right to get an education.
    — Joseph Shapiro, NPR, 20 June 2024
  • The first law of thermodynamics is one of the bedrock laws of physics.
    — Jackie Appel, Popular Mechanics, 24 Feb. 2023
  • His first law job was at Wright & Garrett in Los Angeles.
    — Tom Petruno, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2023
  • But the criminal code rewrite seems set to be the first law since 1991 to be completely overturned.
    — Ashraf Khalil, ajc, 6 Mar. 2023
  • This looks set to extend further with the EU moving close to passing one of the world's first laws governing the use of the technologies.
    — Bankim Chandra, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023
  • Berry notes, for example, that her home state Oregon’s very first law was to create a tax to pay for wolf bounties.
    — Colin Dickey, The New Republic, 31 Mar. 2023
  • But the criminal code rewrite is the first law to be completely overturned since 1991.
    — Ashraf Khalil, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Mar. 2023
  • The Standard Time Act of 1918 was the first law to implement standard and daylight saving times at the federal level.
    — Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 3 Sep. 2023
  • And five years after the first deepfakes started to appear, the first laws are just emerging that criminalize the sharing of faked images.
    — Matt Burgess, WIRED, 16 Oct. 2023
  • Last month, Tennessee enacted the country’s first law to restrict drag shows.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2023
  • In 2021, South Korea passed the world’s first law to require tech giants to offer alternative payment systems on their apps stores.
    — Cat Zakrzewski, Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2023
  • As the first law enforcement officer on the scene of the 2013 West Fertilizer Plant fire, Irving was the first to smell smoke, the first official to call in the fire and the first to begin evacuating people in harm’s way.
    — USA Today, 10 Apr. 2023
  • After Illinois passed the country’s first law protecting child influencers last week, a feeling of optimism swept over Sarah Adams.
    — Angela Yang, NBC News, 15 Aug. 2023
  • It’s believed this would have been the first law in the US requiring age verification from new social media users, and to require parental consent, to go into effect.
    — Michelle Watson, CNN, 1 Sep. 2023
  • In August, Illinois passed the country’s first law protecting child influencers.
    — Angela Yang, NBC News, 12 Sep. 2023
  • In particular, there have been complaints that Newton’s first law is circular.
    — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 5 Sep. 2023
  • Researchers have made a breakthrough in applying the first law of thermodynamics to complex systems.
    — Jackie Appel, Popular Mechanics, 24 Feb. 2023
  • Courts have issued mixed rulings, with the nation's first law, in Arkansas, struck down by a federal judge who said the ban on care violated the due process rights of transgender youth and their families.
    — CBS News, 10 Jan. 2024
  • This first law offered monthly benefits only for disabled people over age 50.
    — Tom Margenau, Dallas News, 26 Mar. 2023
  • Ultimately, love, like energy in the first law of thermodynamics, is not quite created or destroyed, but acquires a new form.
    — Rhoda Feng, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024
  • In a recent paper published in the journal Philosophy of Science, Hoek argued that Newton had no intention of using the first law to refer to imaginary, force-free bodies.
    — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 5 Sep. 2023
  • It’s been two decades since lawmakers passed the first law to begin requiring electric utilities to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy.
    — Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2023
  • The first law of thermodynamics is just an expression of energy conservation written for . . .
    — Popular Mechanics, 17 Mar. 2023
  • The first law of thermodynamics is undergoing a huge renovation.
    — Jackie Appel, Popular Mechanics, 24 Feb. 2023
  • Recently, a team of researchers made headlines for a stunning announcement: a theoretical breakthrough that expanded our understanding of the first law of thermodynamics.
    — Popular Mechanics, 17 Mar. 2023
  • California enacted the nation’s first law ordering racial and ethnic diversity on corporate boards.
    — Laurel Rosenhall, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'first law.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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