in the first instance

基本解释

You should apply in the first instance to the personnel manager.
首先，你应向人事经理申请。
In the first instance, a government can meet its obligations by raisingfuture taxes.
首先，一个政府可以在将来用加税来满足其承诺。
The research team is also working towards making a STAIR cell prototype suited, in the first instance, for small applications, such as mobile phones or MP3 players.
研究团队还在努力制作合适的 STAIR 电池原型，起初用于一些小型电器上，比如移动电话和 MP3 播放器。

For Plato, philosophy was in the first instance, a therapy for our passions in a way of setting limits to our desires.
对于柏拉图，哲学的首要任务，是透过对我们的欲望设限,来治疗我们的激情。
耶鲁公开课 - 政治哲学导论课程节选
This is the first instance in which Richard will do what he later describes Mencken doing, using words as weapons.
如同门肯后来所做的,语言第一次被理查当作武器。
耶鲁公开课 - 1945年后的美国小说课程节选

Collateral should, in the first instance, be posted for the loans made to Moscow last December.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Trying to put Moscow on the dole
It is about to begin international flights—to two Indian cities in the first instance.
ECONOMIST: The Himalayas’ open skies