flying start
a start, as in sailboat racing, in which the entrants begin moving before reaching the starting line.
a start or beginning of anything, characterized by the participant's vigor and enthusiasm and sometimes by a certain advantage over competitors: She's off to a flying start in her new job.
Origin of flying start
1Words Nearby flying start
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use flying start in a sentence
PEN week got off to a flying start with the opening celebration of the sixth PEN World Voices Festival.
He retorted with a fling at the green costume of the other, and then the bugle sounded for the flying start.
The White Shield | Myrtle ReedAs is well known, aeroplanes need a sort of flying start in order to become effective.
The Motor Boys in the Clouds | Clarence YoungThe latter had got away with a flying start, however, and her writhing body plugged the only means of escape.
Betty Gordon at Mountain Camp | Alice B. EmersonHating to play the rôle of an eavesdropper any longer than necessary he made a flying start and burst into the room.
Officer 666 | Barton W. Currie
Thus it enjoys the benefit of a flying start, but, notwithstanding this, it generally fails to make a catch.
Jungle Folk | Douglas Dewar
British Dictionary definitions for flying start
Also called (informal): flyer (in sprinting) a start by a competitor anticipating the starting signal
a start to a race or time trial in which the competitor is already travelling at speed as he passes the starting line
any promising beginning
an initial advantage over others
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with flying start
see under get off the ground.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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