start out
Britishverb
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to set out on a journey
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to take the first steps, as in life, one's career, etc
he started out as a salesman
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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
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.
The ring itself might start out many miles in diameter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
You may need to decrease your contributions at some point, but if you start out by saving less, it will be harder to catch up.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026
“And they need to start out by listening, by asking rural people, ‘What are your needs here?
From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026
"For example, if at first proteins A and B are separate, adding caffeine brings them together; conversely, if proteins A and B start out together, adding a drug like rapamycin can cause them to dissociate."
From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2026
Then it would start out with small disguised-as-almost-friendly-up-to-nothing-in-particular questions like, “What if Claire isn’t quite as completely evil and nasty as you thought, Ida B?”
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
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.
