start

Less common meanings

9. 9
   nouncountable

   The opportunity or help someone is given to begin something, such as life or a career, successfully.

   A small part in a TV comedy gave her her start in acting.

   The program aims to give children from poor families the best possible start.

   UsageUsually get one's start or give someone a start; set phrase a good start in life.

   Similarbreak, chance, opportunity

   Note

   Unlike a head start, which measures an advantage over others, this start is simply the opening someone was given, with no rival in view.

10. 10
    a joltnouncountable

    A sudden, involuntary jerk or jump of the body, typically caused by surprise, fear, or being woken abruptly.

    He sat up with a start, sure he had heard footsteps.

    The cat's sudden leap gave the old man quite a start.

    UsageUsually with a start: she woke with a start. Something can give you a start.

    Similarjolt, jump, jerk, fright, scare

    Note

    In the plural it describes jumpy, uneven motion. Stevenson writes of a frightened youth's 'starts and pallors', and L'Estrange of nature doing nothing 'by starts and leaps'. The verb that matches it is to flinch or jump. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Stevenson uses 'starts and pallors' to describe a frightened youth, Felipe, in Olalla. gutenberg.net.au
    • L'Estrange writes of nature doing nothing 'by starts and leaps'. gutenberg.org
11. 11
    jump in surpriseverbintransitive

    To make a sudden, involuntary jerk or jump from surprise, fear, or alarm, or to wake suddenly with such a jolt.

    She started when a hand touched her shoulder in the dark.

    Horses start easily, so approach them slowly and speak softly.

    UsageOften start at a sound or start from sleep. Jump is the plainer word.

    Similarjump, flinch, startle, jerk, recoil

    Note

    The oldest picture in the verb comes from Old English styrtan, 'to leap up, start', and possibly further back from a root meaning 'to be stiff', a fitting ancestor for a body that stiffens in alarm. Shakespeare makes eyes 'start from their spheres', Dryden's Bertran starts 'as from some dreadful dream', and Watts warns of a soul ready to 'start aside'. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The verb derives from Old English styrtan, meaning 'to leap up, start'. en.wiktionary.org
    • Shakespeare describes eyes that 'start from their spheres'. en.wikisource.org
    • Isaac Watts warns of a soul ready to 'start aside'. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    edge over rivalsnouncountable

    An initial advantage over a rival, especially one gained by beginning earlier; a head start.

    My older brother gave me a ten-second start, and he still beat me to the corner.

    The thieves had a full day's start before anyone noticed the theft.

    UsageUse time expressions such as a day's start. With a rival, you can say a head start on or over someone.

    Similaradvantage, lead, edge, jump

    Oppositedisadvantage, handicap

13. 13
    young plantnouncountable

    In gardening, a young plant raised from seed in a pot or cell tray and sold or kept for transplanting into the garden.

    The nursery sells vegetable starts in six-packs from early spring.

    Harden off each start for a week before setting it in the ground.

    UsageNamed by the plant: tomato starts, vegetable starts.

    Similarseedling, transplant, plug

    Note

    Garden centers sell them in mid to late spring, with small annuals packed in four-packs and one young plant to each cell. Whether bought or raised at home, a start has already sprouted and is meant to be moved into the ground. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Garden centers sell young plants in mid to late spring. diggardencentre.com
    • Small annual plants are sold in four-packs. millhomenursery.com
    • Each cell holds one young plant. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    raise topicverbtransitive

    To raise a question, objection, or topic; to put a subject forward so that discussion of it begins.

    Similarraise, broach, introduce, pose, prompt

15. 15
    monthly bleedingverbeuphemisticintransitive

    To begin menstruating, either for the first time or at the onset of a monthly period; a euphemism, usually used without an object.

    The doctor asked whether her daughter had started yet.

    She was worried she might start during the exam.

    UsageUse has she started yet? when the conversation already makes clear that periods are meant.

    Similarmenstruate

    Note

    The euphemism works by leaving the object out. Have you started yet? never names a period, and context does the rest. Because the bare verb carries the meaning, it suits gentle, private talk, such as a parent speaking with a child or a patient with a doctor.

16. 16
    scare outverbtransitive

    To rouse or alarm a creature so that it breaks from cover or takes flight; more broadly, to disturb and set something in motion.

    The beaters moved through the wood to start the pheasants toward the guns.

    His shout started a flock of pigeons from the roof.

    Similarflush, rouse, startle, scare, drive

    Note

    Turn the flinch outward and you get the hunter's verb. Hounds start a fox, or beaters start pheasants, driving the animal from cover so that it runs. Keep the roles straight: the hunter starts the game, and the game starts. Shakespeare's Othello stretches the verb to a person's peace of mind: 'To start my quiet?' Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Shakespeare's Othello contains the quoted use of start to mean disturbing someone's quiet. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation is spoken by Brabantio, in Act 1, Scene 1. shakespeare.mit.edu
17. 17
    come looseverbtransitive or intransitive

    Of a fixed part such as a bolt, plank, or joint: to work loose or shift from its seat; also to force such a part loose or out of place.

    One, by a fall in wrestling, started the end of the clavicle from the sternon.

    1676, Richard Wiseman, Severall Chirurgicall Treatises

    the storm started the bolts in the vessel

    Similarloosen, spring, dislodge, shift

    Oppositetighten, secure

    Note

    Things meant to stay put are the subject here: bolts, planks, joints. The verb is ergative, so a storm can start the bolts in a vessel, or a panel's molding can warp and start a little by itself, as in Cleland's Fanny Hill (1749). Richard Wiseman's surgical treatises of 1676 use it for dislocation, when a fall in wrestling 'started the end of the clavicle'. The idea is movement from a fixed seat, not beginning. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Fanny Hill is by John Cleland, and its first-edition date is 1749 under the stipulated title-page convention. writersinspire.org
    • Fanny Hill describes a panel's molding having warped or started loose. en.wikisource.org
    • Richard Wiseman's Severall Chirurgicall Treatises was first published in 1676. readingearlymedicine.org
    • Wiseman uses started for a clavicle dislocated through a wrestling fall; the quoted fragment is accurate. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    empty barrelverbtransitive

    In nautical use, to pour out or empty the contents of a cask or tank, or to tap a cask and begin drawing from it.

    With the hold flooding, the captain ordered the men to start the water casks to lighten the ship.

    The captain ordered a fresh cask of rum started and a double ration served to every man.

    Similarempty, drain, broach, tap

    Note

    Aboard ship the verb works on casks: to start a water cask is to tap it and begin drawing off, or to empty it out altogether. The object is the cask or what it holds. Away from the sea the phrase is easily misread as plain 'begin', so give enough surrounding detail to make the pouring clear. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Nautical start can mean to tap a water cask and begin drawing from it, or to empty it. en.wiktionary.org
    • The contents can also be the object. gutenberg.org
19. 19
    nouncountable

    Something, such as a handle, tail or spur, that projects or sticks out from a surface or body.

    Similarprojection, protrusion, handle, lug, spur

    Note

    A different word that only looks like the verb of beginning. It comes from Old English steort, 'tail', and is akin to Dutch staart and German Sterz, 'tail, handle'. From tail it widened to anything that sticks out, such as a handle, a spur or a projection. Scots start or stairt, an upright post, keeps the same shape of meaning. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The projection noun has a different etymology from the verb. en.wiktionary.org
    • The noun derives from Old English steort, meaning tail. en.wiktionary.org
    • Dutch staart and German Sterz are cognates with the stated meanings. en.wiktionary.org
    • The tail sense developed into handle and projection senses. en.wiktionary.org
    • Scots start and stairt are related forms meaning an upright post. en.wiktionary.org
20. 20
    nounarchaicUK

    In archaic British slang, an occurrence, event, or state of affairs, typically a surprising or odd one, as in 'a rum start'.

    Note

    Old British slang for something that happens, usually something odd. Its natural companion is rum, 'strange': Hawley Smart's A False Start (1887) has a character call a visitor's coming 'a rum start'. Unlike the noun for a beginning, this start is the whole event, not its opening moment. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • Start historically meant a happening or event in British slang. en.wiktionary.org
    • Rum means strange and occurs in the expression rum start. en.wiktionary.org
    • Hawley Smart wrote A False Start, first published in 1887. upload.wikimedia.org
    • A character, Grafton, calls John Madingley's coming to Tunnleton a rum start. upload.wikimedia.org
    • This event sense differs from start meaning the beginning of an activity. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    adverbarchaic

    Completely or utterly; a dialectal and archaic variant of 'stark', chiefly in 'start mad' (stark mad).

    Col.—The age has no sense—the people are start mad—as mad as a March mare. We should have fine times, indeed if our laws did'nt compel the poor people to protect the property of the rich.

    1828, “Militia System”, in The New England Farmer

    Note

    An intensifier that began as a variant of stark and is now archaic and dialectal, though stark itself is not. It stands before an adjective to push it to the extreme: a speaker in an 1828 piece in The New England Farmer calls the people 'start mad', then 'as mad as a March mare'. Read it as stark mad. Outside dialect writing, stark is the form to use. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Start is a variant of stark; describing it as a borrowing misstates the relationship. en.wiktionary.org
    • Start is archaic and dialectal; stark remains standard in expressions such as stark naked and stark raving mad. en.wiktionary.org
    • The New England Farmer published the cited piece in 1828. en.wiktionary.org
    • The wording is correct, but the source has a dash, not a semicolon: “start mad—as mad as a March mare”. The line is spoken by the character labelled Col. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    noun

    In an old-style water wheel, the curved or sloping front and bottom of each bucket, which the water strikes and fills.

    The fall of water is 6 feet, and the radius of the curve is 8 feet, from the centre of the water-wheel to the extreme point of the start.

    1845, Captain R.E. Crawley, Description of a Water-Course
23. 23
    noun

    The horizontal arm or lever of a horse gin (a horse-powered winding or hoisting machine) to which the horse is harnessed and which it pulls around.