firsthand

adj

1. (not-comparable)Direct, without intermediate stages.

   “firsthand knowledge”

   “I recently received a firsthand report from an old friend — John A. Keel — who until last year was as skeptical a newshound as I have known.”

   “Ours is a generation of aromantics, jaded about matters of the heart — often before gaining firsthand experience.”

   “1990 March, Cliff Gromer, Firsthand Report: Yamaha WaveRunner III, Popular Mechanics.”

2. (not-comparable)Not previously owned or used; contrasted with secondhand.

   “a firsthand copy”

adv

1. (not-comparable)Directly or from personal experience.

   “Hell and tarnations, I've known them for muddleheads and blockheads half my life, and firsthand, but I sure didn't expect them to take leave of their senses, insulting our office of President, making our Party into a white demagogue's party, slapping the Negro vote in the face.”

   “In the course of three intensive days in and around Guiyu's four villages, the small investigative team witnessed firsthand what passes for recycling of e-waste in Asia.”

   “2003, Katherine Edgar, “Levant”, in Jennifer Speake, Literature of Travel and Exploration: G to P However, the romantic subjective approach persisted, allowing the nontraveling reader the illusion of experiencing the region at firsthand, […]”

   “He wasn't a gabber, nor a squawker not a ratfink nor a snitch. He wasn't a whistleblower. He wasn't a gossip. He didn't talk about someone behind their back. Banks knew that firsthand because he had tried on several occasions to get Quinley to talk about other people, and Quinley would never do it. He'd laugh and change the subject.”

   “Howard Davidowitz, who has studied consumer habits firsthand for decades, said that in the last three years he has seen more cash purchases at luxury boutiques like Louis Vuitton and semiluxury chains like Coach. Mr. Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a retail consulting firm, suspects now that $2,000 handbags and $700 shoes are commonplace, more women pay in fresh bills from the A.T.M. to cover their tracks.”