start — Defs

01 v. i. To leap; to jump.

imp. & p. p. started; p. pr. & vb. n. starting

1.
To leap; to jump.[Obs.]
2.
To move suddenly, as with a spring or leap, from surprise, pain, or other sudden feeling or emotion, or by a voluntary act.
“And maketh him out of his sleep to start.” — Chaucer.

“I start as from some dreadful dream.” — Dryden.

“Keep your soul to the work when ready to start aside.” — I. Watts.

“But if he start, It is the flesh of a corrupted heart.” — Shak.
3.
To set out; to commence a course, as a race or journey; to begin; as, to start in business.
“At once they start, advancing in a line.” — Dryden.

“At intervals some bird from out the brakes Starts into voice a moment, then is still.” — Byron.
4.
To become somewhat displaced or loosened; as, a rivet or a seam may start under strain or pressure.

Phrases & compounds

To start after — to set out after; to follow; to pursue.

To start against — to act as a rival candidate against.

To start for — to be a candidate for, as an office.

To start up — to rise suddenly, as from a seat or couch; to come suddenly into notice or importance.

02 v. t. To cause to move suddenly; to disturb suddenly; to startle; to alarm; to rouse; to cause to flee or fly; as, the hounds started a fox.

1.
To cause to move suddenly; to disturb suddenly; to startle; to alarm; to rouse; to cause to flee or fly; as, the hounds started a fox.
“Upon malicious bravery dost thou come To start my quiet?” — Shak.

“Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar.” — Shak.
2.
To bring into being or into view; to originate; to invent.
“Sensual men agree in the pursuit of every pleasure they can start.” — Sir W. Temple.
3.
To cause to move or act; to set going, running, or flowing; as, to start a railway train; to start a mill; to start a stream of water; to start a rumor; to start a business.
“I was engaged in conversation upon a subject which the people love to start in discourse.” — Addison.
4.
To move suddenly from its place or position; to displace or loosen; to dislocate; as, to start a bone; the storm started the bolts in the vessel.
“One, by a fall in wrestling, started the end of the clavicle from the sternum.” — Wiseman.
5.
To pour out; to empty; to tap and begin drawing from; as, to start a water cask.(Naut.)

03 n. The act of starting; a sudden spring, leap, or motion, caused by surprise, fear, pain, or the like; any sudden motion, or beginning of motion.

1.
The act of starting; a sudden spring, leap, or motion, caused by surprise, fear, pain, or the like; any sudden motion, or beginning of motion.
“The fright awakened Arcite with a start.” — Dryden.
2.
A convulsive motion, twitch, or spasm; a spasmodic effort.
“For she did speak in starts distractedly.” — Shak.

“Nature does nothing by starts and leaps, or in a hurry.” — L'Estrange.
3.
A sudden, unexpected movement; a sudden and capricious impulse; a sally; as, starts of fancy.
“To check the starts and sallies of the soul.” — Addison.
4.
The beginning, as of a journey or a course of action; first motion from a place; act of setting out; the outset; -- opposed to finish.
“The start of first performance is all.” — Bacon.

“I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start.” — Shak.

“At a start he was betwixt them two.” — Chaucer.

Phrases & compounds

At a start — at once; in an instant.

To get the start — to begin before another; to gain or have the advantage in a similar undertaking; -- usually with of.

04 n. A tail, or anything projecting like a tail.

05 n. A Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union which provided for stepwise reductions in the number of nuclear weapons possessed b…

1.
A Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union which provided for stepwise reductions in the number of nuclear weapons possessed by each country.