start

[[t]stɑrt[/t]]

v. i.

1) to begin or set out, as on a journey or activity

2) to become active, manifest, or operative; appear, issue forth, or come to life, esp. suddenly or abruptly:

The snowfall started at midnight. The engines started with a roar[/ex]

3) to spring, move, or dart suddenly from a position or place

4) to be among the entrants in a race or the initial participants in a game or contest

5) to give a sudden, involuntary jerk or jump, as from shock or pain

6) to protrude:

eyes seeming to start from their sockets[/ex]

7) to spring, slip, or work loose from place or fastenings, as timbers or other structural parts

8) to set moving, going, or acting:

to start a car; to start a fire[/ex]

9) to establish or found:

to start a new business[/ex]

10) to begin work on:

She's starting a new book[/ex]

11) to enable or help (someone) set out on a journey, career, etc

12) to cause or choose to be an entrant in a game or contest:

He started his new pitcher in the crucial game[/ex]

13) to cause (an object) to work loose from place or fastenings

14) archaic to startle

15) a beginning of an action, journey, process, etc

16) a place or time from which something begins

17) the first part or beginning segment of anything:

We missed the start of the show[/ex]

18) a sudden, springing movement from a position

19) a sudden, involuntary jerk of the body

20) an instance of being an entrant in a race or an initial participant in a game or contest

21) a lead or advance, as over competitors or pursuers

22) a means of beginning or advancing something desired:

Her parents gave them a start by buying them a house[/ex]

23) a spurt of activity

24) a signal to move, proceed, or begin, as on a course or in a race

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Etymology: bef. 1150; (v.) ME sterten to rush out, leap; cf. OE styrtan, with same sense syn: See begin