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]

Example Sentences

Some statewide apps in the US have similarly suffered from false starts and relaunches.

From MIT Technology Review

The development’s complicated 17-year history, marked by ownership changes, false starts, and broken promises, had already put American Dream in a precarious situation.

From Vox

We can’t have any false starts or penalties or anything like that.

From Washington Post

Bowell missed from 54 yards, but the Steelers were called for a false start.

From Washington Post

Boswell, a sixth-year veteran, had missed his first attempt from 54 yards out, but a false start penalty gave him a second chance.

From Washington Post

Had Paul's thinking been more open to the Spirit's touch at that point, he wouldn't have made the false start.

From Project Gutenberg

He was more than disappointed at the upshot of his wild speculations, and in himself for the false start that he had made.

From Project Gutenberg

A false start was made from Nigeria with insufficient forces, which met with disaster towards the end of August.

From Project Gutenberg

It is just this that convinces me we have made a false start as regards the education and ambitions of our young men.

From Project Gutenberg

Then, as already related, came his student-years in Paris, and his false start as an historical painter.

From Project Gutenberg