From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfor the first timefor the first timeused to say that something has never happened or been done before For the first time in his life he felt truly happy. The survey revealed that, for the first time, there are more women in the workplace than men. Not for the first time she wondered how he coped with so many children. → first
Examples from the Corpus
Not for the first time• Floating somewhere. Not for the first time.• There was silence at the table. Not for the first time, Kelly felt an unmistakable tug of attraction towards him.• Hadn't she tried to instil morals into the girl? Not for the first time she missed her husband dreadfully. 