first wave
Earliest arriving group
First wave describes the initial surge or earliest phase of a movement, migration, or phenomenon.
The term appears most often in discussions of feminism, where the first wave refers to the suffrage movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It also describes initial migrations the first wave of settlers or the opening phase of attacks, infections, or trends: The first wave of COVID hit nursing homes hardest.
- initialName's opening letter
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- surgeSudden powerful increase
- tideOcean's cyclical swell
- breakthroughSudden important advance
shock troops · vanguard · early adopters · feminism · women's suffrage · immigration · new arrivals · onset · beginning · crest · swell · assault · beach · landing · invasion · suffragette · movement · reform
- feminismfeminism, feminist theory, gender equality, women's rights, feminist novels
- assault troopsshock troops, assault teams, storm troopers, stormtroopers, strike teams
- Gender Historyfeminism, suffragettes, women's suffrage, patriarchy, women's liberation
- Feminist Theorypatriarchy, male gaze, intersectionality, female gaze, women writers
- firstsinitial, beginning, start, opening, original
- military scoutsscouts, ranger, vanguard, pathfinder, reconnaissance
first wavesecond wave
Recurring spike after lull
fourth wave · tail end · intersectional feminism · aftermath · post-feminism
first wavereinforcements
Additional troops sent in
reserve forces · rear echelon · rear guard · relief force · garrison