to begin with

phrase

: as the first thing to be considered

Examples of to begin with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Murphy’s gang weren’t really outlaws to begin with — he was imprisoned for defending his daughter from some undercover cops, while Singh (Avi Nash) was arrested for his associations with socialism. — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026

Treating a single snapshot as a durable ranking is how brand teams end up defending a number that was never solid to begin with. — Ronn Torossian, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2026

Democrats were more likely than Republicans to prioritize a free press to begin with, the study found. — ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026

Nieman stressed that those at greatest risk are people whose ears just naturally produce more wax to begin with or people whose ears don’t self-clean as effectively. — Julia Landwehr, HEALTH, 14 Sep. 2026