start
verb (used without object)
to begin or set out, as on a journey or activity.
start
1 American
[stahrt]
/ stɑrt /
verb (used without object)
-
starts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
started,
past participle, past
-
starting
present participle
-
to begin or set out, as on a journey or activity.
-
to appear or come suddenly into action, life, view, etc.; rise or issue suddenly forth.
-
to spring, move, or dart suddenly from a position or place.
The rabbit started from the bush.
-
to be among the entrants in a race or the initial participants in a game or contest.
-
to give a sudden, involuntary jerk, jump, or twitch, as from a shock of surprise, alarm, or pain.
The sudden clap of thunder caused everyone to start.
-
to protrude.
eyes seeming to start from their sockets.
-
to spring, slip, or work loose from place or fastenings, as timbers or other structural parts.
verb (used with object)
-
starts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
started,
past participle, past
-
starting
present participle
-
to set moving, going, or acting; to set in operation.
to start an automobile; to start a fire.
-
to establish or found.
to start a new business.
- Synonyms:
- institute
-
to begin work on.
to start a book.
-
to enable or help (someone) set out on a journey, a career, or the like.
The record started the young singer on the road to stardom.
-
to cause or choose to be an entrant in a game or contest.
He started his ace pitcher in the crucial game.
-
to cause (an object) to work loose from place or fastenings.
-
to rouse (game) from its lair or covert; flush.
-
to draw or discharge (liquid or other contents) from a vessel or container; empty (a container).
-
Archaic. to cause to twitch, jump, or flinch involuntarily; startle.
noun
-
starts
plural
-
a beginning of an action, journey, etc.
- Synonyms:
- onset, commencement
-
a signal to move, proceed, or begin, as on a course or in a race.
-
a place or time from which something begins.
-
the first part or beginning segment of anything.
The start of the book was good but the last half was dull.
-
an instance of being a participant in a race or an initial participant in a game or contest.
The horse won his first two starts.
-
a sudden, springing movement from a position.
-
a sudden, involuntary jerking movement of the body.
to awake with a start.
-
a lead or advance of specified amount, as over competitors or pursuers.
-
the position or advantage of one who starts first.
The youngest child should have the start over the rest.
-
a chance, opportunity, aid, or encouragement given to one starting on a course or career.
The bride's parents gave the couple a start by buying them a house.
-
a spurt of activity.
-
a starting of parts from their place or fastenings in a structure.
-
the resulting break or opening.
-
an outburst or sally, as of emotion, wit, or fancy.
START
2
American
[stahrt]
/ stɑrt /
noun
start
1
British
/ stɑːt /
verb
-
to begin or cause to begin (something or to do something); come or cause to come into being, operation, etc
he started a quarrel
they started to work
-
to make or cause to make a beginning of (a process, series of actions, etc)
they started on the project
-
(sometimes foll by up) to set or be set in motion
he started up the machine
-
(intr) to make a sudden involuntary movement of one's body, from or as if from fright; jump
-
(intr; sometimes foll by up, away, etc) to spring or jump suddenly from a position or place
-
to establish or be established; set up
to start a business
-
(tr) to support (someone) in the first part of a venture, career, etc
-
to work or cause to work loose
-
to enter or be entered in a race
-
(intr) to flow violently from a source
wine started from a hole in the cask
-
(tr) to rouse (game) from a hiding place, lair, etc
-
(intr) (esp of eyes) to bulge; pop
-
an archaic word for startle
-
informal (intr) to commence quarrelling or causing a disturbance
-
in the first place
noun
-
the first or first part of a series of actions or operations, a journey, etc
-
the place or time of starting, as of a race or performance
-
a signal to proceed, as in a race
-
a lead or advantage, either in time or distance and usually of specified extent, in a competitive activity
he had an hour's start on me
-
a slight involuntary movement of the body, as through fright, surprise, etc
she gave a start as I entered
-
an opportunity to enter a career, undertake a project, etc
-
informal a surprising incident
-
a part that has come loose or been disengaged
-
spasmodically; without concerted effort
-
in the first place
START
2
British
/ stɑːt /
acronym
start
Idioms
Synonym Usage
See begin.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
startsimple
-
startssimple
-
have startedperfect
-
has startedperfect
-
am startingprogressive
-
are startingprogressive
-
is startingprogressive
-
have been startingperfect progressive
-
has been startingperfect progressive
Past
-
startedsimple
-
had startedperfect
-
was startingprogressive
-
were startingprogressive
-
had been startingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of start
First recorded before 1150; Middle English verb sterte(n), stirte(n), “to rush out, leap” (cognate with Middle High German sterzen ); replacing Old English styrtan (attested once), cognate with German stürzen; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
The beginning of something is the start. The start of the movie may have been a little slow, but by the end you were on the edge of your seat. As a verb, start means to begin an activity or event. Some people turn to the last page of a book before they even start it, so they'll be prepared for the ending. Start can also mean to move suddenly in surprise or alarm, or to startle. This is actually the original meaning of the word start, which comes from the Old English word styrtan, meaning to caper or to leap up.
Vocabulary lists containing start
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He repeated his pole from Brazil last year, and will start from the front for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix in September.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
Related: Here’s the net worth you need to start getting ahead in your 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond in the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 7, 2026
Her dedication to flying in her teens wasn’t an anomaly, but part of a growing wave of young people getting an early start in their pilot careers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2026
Making a point by scoring more points to start a season — 361 in nine games — than anyone since Wilt Chamberlain scored 472 in 1962.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2026
I’m not sure if it’s a twin thing, but I can always tell when my brother is about to start some mess.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
“We understand that this process can take time. Past agreements, including New START, took years to negotiate and were built upon decades of precedent,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
New START, the last nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow after decades of agreements dating to the Cold War, is due to expire on Thursday, and with it restrictions on the two top nuclear powers.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as "New START" and signed in 2010 was one of a handful of agreements designed to help prevent a catastrophic nuclear war.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026
Allowing inspections of weapons sites and providing information on the placement of intercontinental and submarine-based ballistic missiles and their test launches are critical components of New START, which U.S.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 12, 2023
He told us he had then on these mountains 15,000 head of dear, and thought we might like to see a START, as it is called.
From Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft
Clifton’s, the famed institution that dates to 1935, once a Depression-era oasis designed to look like a woodsy, Northern California lodge, has quietly started operating again after years of post-pandemic fits and starts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Even a magnetic field that starts out relatively weak can become increasingly influential as a white dwarf accumulates matter.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
Married at First Sight UK usually starts airing in September, but the new series was put on hold following the revelations in the Panorama.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Horton’s new starts for the most recent quarter fell 45% sequentially.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
Joey starts referring to herself as a “little errand boy.”
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
The couple were outside St Mary's Basilica, in the corner of the square, when the shooting started.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
They have not started 8-2 since their last championship season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2026
Marvell Technology and Lumentum Holdings started the week by announcing a megadeal.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2026
Less than a year ago, after getting encouragement from Angela and listeners, he started an Instagram account — one that now has more followers than Angela’s.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 7, 2026
Frightened at first and then relieved because neither was hurt, Sancho started thinking.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
The home side were able to strike just before half-time with Rees-Zammit starting and finishing the move for his first try in eight internationals.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
Regardless of a funny, informal nickname for this season’s Lakers, so far the starting unit has been great fun to watch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2026
Atlanta previously hosted pandas on loan from China starting in 1999, and seven panda cubs have been born at the zoo.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2026
After decades of unsuccessful efforts to isolate such molecules, the researchers had found that they could form unexpectedly from reactions involving relatively simple starting materials.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
But Anna May and I were just starting out as friends, so I only said, “Thanks for asking me to tag along. I hope we can do it again.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
