head start

American  

Or headstart

noun

• head starts
  plural

1. an advantage given or acquired in any competition, endeavor, etc., as allowing one or more competitors in a race to start before the others.

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head start British  

noun

1. an initial advantage in a competitive situation

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head start Idioms  

1. An early start that confers an advantage, as in This year we'll get a head start on the competition by running more ads. The expression comes from racing, where it was used for a horse being given an advantage of several lengths over the others. Its extension to other areas dates from the early 1900s.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• head starts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of head start

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

head start

Chinese brands got a head start on EVs in part thanks to government subsidies, but they grew their competitive advantage by acting fast, said Stephen Dyer, Asia-Pacific leader of AlixPartners’ automotive and industrial practice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

The accounts could give those children a head start that may potentially be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in aggregate in the coming decades, according to one estimate.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

He still had to go through an online application portal later, but he had a head start.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

The shy boy was the first in his family to walk the graduation stage, and he was determined to get a head start on his future.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

To these advantages of Africa’s enormous head start were added those of highly diverse climates and habitats and of the world’s highest human diversity.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond