start.
The beginning of an activity.
Meaning & usage
The beginning of an activity.
The movie was entertaining from start to finish.
A sudden involuntary movement.
He woke with a start.
The beginning point of a race, a board game, etc.
Captured pieces are returned to the start of the board.
An appearance in a sports game, horserace, etc., from the beginning of the event.
Jones has been a substitute before, but made his first start for the team last Sunday.
A young plant germinated in a pot to be transplanted later.
An initial advantage over somebody else; a head start.
to get, or have, the start
A happening or proceeding.
Alternative letter-case form of Start (“a typical button for video games, originally used to start a game, now also often to pause or choose an option”)
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan Old English styrtan Middle English stertendeverb. Middle English stert English start From Middle English stert, from the verb sterten (“to start, startle”). See below.
To begin, commence, initiate. To set in motion.
to start a stream of water; to start a rumour; to start a business
To begin, commence, initiate. To begin.
The President fired the gun to start the footrace.
The rain started at 9:00.
To begin, commence, initiate. To ready the operation of a vehicle or machine.
to start the engine
To begin, commence, initiate. To put or raise (a question, an objection); to put forward (a subject for discussion).
To begin, commence, initiate. To bring onto being or into view; to originate; to invent.
To have its origin (at), begin.
The speed limit is 50 km/h, starting at the edge of town.
The blue line starts one foot away from the wall.
To move suddenly, from a previous state of rest; to startle. To jerk, jump up, flinch, or draw back in surprise.
To move suddenly, from a previous state of rest; to startle. To awaken suddenly.
To move suddenly, from a previous state of rest; to startle. To disturb and set in motion; to alarm; to rouse; to cause to flee.
The hounds started a fox.
To move suddenly, from a previous state of rest; to startle. To come loose, to break free of a firmly set position; to displace or loosen; to dislocate.
the storm started the bolts in the vessel
To put into play.
To pour out; to empty; to tap and begin drawing from.
to start a water cask
To begin one's menstrual cycle.
Have you started yet?
To begin a journey; to set forth.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English sterten (“to leap up suddenly, rush out”), from Old English styrtan (“to leap up, start”), from Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan (“to startle, move, set in motion”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ter- (“to be stiff”). Cognate with Old Frisian stirta (“to fall down, tumble”), Middle Dutch sterten (“to rush, fall, collapse”) (Dutch storten), Old High German sturzen (“to hurl, plunge, turn upside down”) (German stürzen), Old High German sterzan (“to be stiff, protrude”). More at stare.
An instance of starting.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English sterten (“to leap up suddenly, rush out”), from Old English styrtan (“to leap up, start”), from Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan (“to startle, move, set in motion”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ter- (“to be stiff”). Cognate with Old Frisian stirta (“to fall down, tumble”), Middle Dutch sterten (“to rush, fall, collapse”) (Dutch storten), Old High German sturzen (“to hurl, plunge, turn upside down”) (German stürzen), Old High German sterzan (“to be stiff, protrude”). More at stare.
A projection or protrusion; that which pokes out.
The curved or inclined front and bottom of a water wheel bucket.
The arm, or level, of a gin, drawn around by a horse.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English stert, start (“tail, handle, projection”), from Old English steort (“tail”), from Proto-West Germanic *stert, from Proto-Germanic *stertaz (“tail”). Cognate with Scots start, stairt (“side post, shaft, upright post”), Dutch staart (“tail”), German Sterz (“tail, handle”), Danish stjert (“tail of a bird”), Faroese stertur (“tail”), Icelandic stertur (“short horse tail”), Norn skjårt (“tail”), sterti (“tail of a large fish”), stjårt (“tail of a large fish”), Norwegian stjert (“tail of a bird”), Swedish stjärt (“tail, arse”).
Completely, utterly.
Where this word comes from
Variant of stark.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.