first step

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

first step
    n 1: the first of a series of actions [syn: {first step},
         {initiative}, {opening move}, {opening}]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

21 Moby Thesaurus words for "first step":
      alpha, breaking-in, first, first blush, first glance,
      first impression, first inning, first lap, first move, first round,
      first sight, first stage, gambit, initial, initiative,
      le premier pas, opening move, prime, primitiveness, primitivity,
      warming-up