startup

American  

[stahrt-uhp] / ˈstɑrtˌʌp /

Or start-up

noun

1. the act or fact of starting something; a setting in motion.

2. a new business venture, or a new commercial or industrial project.

   a small, 5-month-old internet startup.

---

adjective

1. of or relating to the beginning of such a venture or project, especially to an investment made to initiate it.

   high start-up costs for construction of a new facility.

Etymology

Origin of startup

First recorded in 1550–60; noun use of verb phrase start up

Explanation

The word startup refers to either the process of beginning something or a new entrepreneurial business. The startup costs for your sister's startup might be higher than she thinks. Most startups offer their customers something innovative — a new product, like a dog toy that's truly indestructible, or an ingenious service, like a smartphone app that tells you where the closest public restrooms are. A startup begins with a great idea, is backed by investments of money, and is intended to grow very quickly — assuming it's successful.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

startup

Whetstone now leads communications for Sierra, an AI startup founded by OpenAI board Chairman Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, who met while working at Google.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

In June 2025, the company made a $14 billion investment in Scale AI, an AI startup based in San Francisco, and poached its co-founder Alexandr Wang as part of the deal.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

While splashy announcements have promised enormous amounts of new computing power coming soon, far less is actually available today, said Nick Frosst, co-founder of Canadian AI startup Cohere.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

“Lots of things have been announced and then canceled,” said Frosst, whose startup builds large language models and was valued at $6.8 billion last year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

“Guess it’s a startup that hasn’t exactly started up,” said Kojo.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein