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Synonyms

start out

British  

verb

  1. to set out on a journey

  2. to take the first steps, as in life, one's career, etc

    he started out as a salesman

  3. to take the first actions in an activity in a particular way or specified aim

    they started out wanting a house, but eventually bought a flat
"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
start out Idioms  

  1. Set out on a trip, as in The climbers started out from base camp shortly after mid-night. [Early 1900s]

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.

Ambitious city women start out thinking they’re going to grab the world by the tail, pull it down and put it in their pocket.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026

As a member of Gen Z, I have had the option of reading books digitally for most of my life—and I didn’t initially start out as a physical-book purist.

From Slate • Mar. 8, 2026

The two Californians would start out closely matched in good looks and charisma.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2026

Muñoz, a 60-year-old Spanish-U.S. dual national, didn’t start out as an auto-industry man.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026

We felt this as little sideways jerks, like sometimes, when you first start out on a bicycle, you have to jerk the wheel back and forth to prevent tipping over.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.