diff --git a/src/explore.zig b/src/explore.zig
index a879088d..94209fa3 100644
--- a/src/explore.zig
+++ b/src/explore.zig
@@ -3931,6 +3931,31 @@ pub const Explorer = struct {
             // OOM building the offset table → bail to the full searchContent
             // path (caller falls through), which renders the same results.
             const n_spans = self.line_offsets.lineSpans(stats.path, content, target_lines[0..target_count], &spans) orelse return false;
+            // Def-line-first: within a file that defines the query symbol, render the
+            // definition line(s) before mere mentions — stable-moves matching spans to
+            // the front (reorders the OUTPUT spans, not lineSpans' sorted input).
+            if (stats.defines) {
+                if (self.outlines.get(stats.path)) |outline| {
+                    var def_w: usize = 0;
+                    var i: usize = 0;
+                    while (i < n_spans) : (i += 1) {
+                        var is_def = false;
+                        for (outline.symbols.items) |sym| {
+                            if (sym.line_start == spans[i].line and asciiEqlIgnoreCase(sym.name, query)) {
+                                is_def = true;
+                                break;
+                            }
+                        }
+                        if (is_def) {
+                            const tmp = spans[i];
+                            var j: usize = i;
+                            while (j > def_w) : (j -= 1) spans[j] = spans[j - 1];
+                            spans[def_w] = tmp;
+                            def_w += 1;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
             for (spans[0..n_spans]) |line_span| {
                 rendered += 1;
 
diff --git a/src/test_search.zig b/src/test_search.zig
index 075711dd..2abab2a4 100644
--- a/src/test_search.zig
+++ b/src/test_search.zig
@@ -1900,6 +1900,28 @@ test "audit: searchContent tier0 use_line_hits early-return skips rerank basenam
 
 // src/explore.zig renderPlainSearch — the MCP codedb_search fast-path rendered in raw
 // hit-count order with no basename prior, so a noise file outranked the canonical match.
+test "def-first: renderPlainSearch surfaces the definition line before mentions in the same file" {
+    var explorer = Explorer.init(testing.allocator, Explorer.DEFAULT_CONTENT_CACHE_CAPACITY);
+    defer explorer.deinit();
+
+    // A comment mentioning `gadget` appears BEFORE its definition; several call
+    // sites follow. Line-order rendering would show the line-1 comment first.
+    try explorer.indexFile("src/g.zig",
+        "// gadget helper\nconst a = gadget;\nconst b = gadget;\npub fn gadget() void {}\ngadget();\ngadget();\n");
+
+    var out: std.ArrayList(u8) = .empty;
+    defer out.deinit(testing.allocator);
+
+    const rendered = try explorer.renderPlainSearch("gadget", testing.allocator, &out, 6, false);
+    try testing.expect(rendered);
+
+    // the def line (`pub fn gadget`, line 4) must render before the comment mention (line 1)
+    const def_i = std.mem.indexOf(u8, out.items, "src/g.zig:4:");
+    const com_i = std.mem.indexOf(u8, out.items, "src/g.zig:1:");
+    try testing.expect(def_i != null and com_i != null);
+    try testing.expect(def_i.? < com_i.?);
+}
+
 test "def-first: renderPlainSearch ranks the defining file above higher-count mentions" {
     var explorer = Explorer.init(testing.allocator, Explorer.DEFAULT_CONTENT_CACHE_CAPACITY);
     defer explorer.deinit();