.first()

.first() Returns: jQuery

Description: Reduce the set of matched elements to the first in the set.

  • version added: 1.4.first()

Given a jQuery object that represents a set of DOM elements, the .first() method constructs a new jQuery object from the first matching element.

Consider a page with a simple list on it:

<ul>
  <li>list item 1</li>
  <li>list item 2</li>
  <li>list item 3</li>
  <li>list item 4</li>
  <li>list item 5</li>
</ul>

We can apply this method to the set of list items:

$('li').first().css('background-color', 'red');

The result of this call is a red background for the first item.

Example:

Highlight the first span in a paragraph.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <style>.highlight{background-color: yellow}</style>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
	<p><span>Look:</span> <span>This is some text in a paragraph.</span> <span>This is a note about it.</span></p>
<script>$("p span").first().addClass('highlight');</script>
</body>
</html>

Demo: