false start

¹

noun

1. Sports.,  a premature start by one or more of the contestants, as in a swimming or track event, necessitating calling the field back to start again.

2. a failure to begin an undertaking successfully.

false-start

²

[fawls-stahrt]

verb (used without object)

Sports.

1. to leave the starting line or position too early and thereby necessitate repeating the signal to begin a race.

Word History and Origins

Origin of false start¹

First recorded in 1805–15

Origin of false start²

First recorded in 1805–15

Idioms and Phrases

A wrong beginning, as in After several false starts she finally managed to write the first chapter. The term originated in racing, where it refers to beginning a race before the starting signal has been given. The expression was soon transferred to other kinds of failed beginning. [Early 1800s]