start

▪ I. start, n.¹
    (stɑːt)
    Forms: 1 steort, (3 steort- in comb.), 3–7 stert, 7 stirt, 4–6 sterte, 5 storte, 6 starte, 6– start.
    [Com. Teut.: OE. steort masc. corresponds to OFris. stert, stirt (WFris. stirt, NFris. stört), (M)LG. stert, MDu. staert (mod.Du. staart), OHG., mod.G. sterz, ON. stert-r (Sw. Da. stjert):—OTeut. *sterto-z.]
    † 1. The tail of an animal. Obs.
    The explanation ‘tail’ is given in many dictionaries from the 17th c. onwards, and in many modern dialect glossaries, but app. only as an assumed general or primary meaning accounting for the specific senses and the use in redstart. Evidence of any modern currency of sense 1 is wanting.

c 725 Corpus Gloss. C 196 Cauda, steort. c 888 ælfred Boeth. xxxv. §7 Ceruerus..ongan onfæᵹnian mid his steorte & pleᵹian wiþ hine. c 1220 Bestiary 9 Ðe leun..Draᵹeð dust wið his stert. a 1300 Havelok 2823 Demden him to binden faste Vp on an asse..His nose went unto þet stert.

    2. A handle (of a vessel, handbell, broom, etc.).

c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 168 Le manuel e le tenoun, [glossed] the handele and the sterte. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 474/2 Stert, of a handylle of a vessel, ansa. 1512 in Archæologia XLI. 344 For..mending y⊇ start of y⊇ sanctus bell ix d. 1521 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 129 To ychon of my broder sonys a sylver spoyne with cuttid starttis. 1562 in J. R. Boyle Hedon (1875) App. 206 An olde panne with a start and a candelsticke. 1566 Engl. Ch. Furniture (Peacock 1866) 33 Item one handbell broken the start of yt and sold to Johnne Chamberlaine and he haith made a morter thereof. 1657 Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 483 A Pottenger..where-unto a long start..is suffixed. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Start, a handle, as ‘beesom start’. 1862 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds 420 Start, the handle of a vessel. ‘Pot-start’.

    † b. The tail of a plough: = plough-start.

c 1440 Promp. Parv. 474/2 Stert, of a plowe (or plowstert), stiua [printed stina]. 1530 Palsgr. 276/1 Stert of a plow, queue de la chareue.

    † 3. The footstalk of a fruit. Obs.

c 1440 Promp. Parv. 474/2 Stert, of an appull or oþer frute, pediculus. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 387 Or make a diche in long, and take a rynde As long as hit; in that the storte [v.r. stortes] doo Of pomgarnat. 1530 Palsgr. 276/1 Stert of frute, queue de frvit. 1600 Surflet Country Farm iii. l. 543 Choose the fairest sowre cherries..cutting off their starts at the halfe, and afterward boile them. 1672 Hoole Comenius' Vis. World xiv. 30 The Cherry hangeth by a long start [pediolo].

    † b. The stalk of a plant. Obs. rare.

1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §20 Dernolde groweth vp streyght lyke an hye grasse, and hath longe sedes on eyther syde the sterte.

    † c. The stem (of a candlestick). Obs.

1696 Patrick Comm. Exod. xxv. (1697) 502 Here is nothing said of the foot of it [sc. the candlestick]... Nor doth he mention the length of the start or trunk.

    † 4. An outgrowth, a projecting point or spur; esp. a point of a stag's horn. Obs.
    Perhaps this may belong to start n.²

1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 283 The second..shall serue to cawterise y⊇ nares without danger or hurt to y⊇ little stert y{supt} groweth vp in the midle of the nares. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. lxiv. 93 The first Crowfoote..bringeth forth vpon each side of the leafe three or foure shorte startes or branches. 1623 Cockeram, i. s.v. Pollard, Beame is that whereon the starts of the head growes. 1633 Gerard Part. Descr. Somerset (1900) 222 Ingotts of copper..rudely cast having on y⊇ back side some 5 sterts or points, some fewer. 1658 Phillips, Torch-Royal,..the next start in a Stag's head growing above the Royal. 1721 Bailey, Brow-Antler, the first Start that grows on the head of a Stag.

    5. Mech. a. The innermost segment of the bucket of a water-wheel.

1547 Rec. Elgin (New Spalding Club 1903) I. 90 He cuttit thwa startis to ane mylln quhyll. 1611 Cotgr., Les rayeres d'un moulin à eau, the armes, or starts of the wheele of a water-mill. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 904/2 The bucket consists of a start AB, an arm BC, and a wrest CD, concentric with the rim. 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 75 The partitions, which determine the form of the buckets, consist of three different planes or boards... We have heard them called the start or shoulder, the arm, and the wrest. 1829 Nat. Philos. I. Mech. (U.K.S.) i. v. 20 This bucket is formed of three planes; AB is in the direction of the radius of the wheel, and is called the start, or shoulder.

    b. The shaft or lever of a horse-mill.

1771 Gentl. Mag. XLI. 57 The upper end or spindle of the shaft..with a square tenon fixes into a mortice in the start or leaver..very securely by a crank of iron which is screwed upon this start. 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 75 A piece of wood was fixed to the beam, or what is commonly called the start of the mill, and the oxen were yoked to it by chains. 1812 Hodgson in Raine Mem. (1857) I. 101 The starts or shafts of the gin. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 238 Start, a lever for working a gin to which the horse is attached.

    6. Comb. † start-pan, a pan with a handle; start-post, the arm carrying the float of a scoop-wheel used in draining; † start-rope (meaning obscure).

1459 Paston Lett. I. 489 Item, j. lytyll *stert panne of sylver.

1888 W. H. Wheeler Drainage Fens & Low Lands v. 73 The rim is cast with sockets, in which are fixed with pins, oak arms, or ‘*start posts’. To the start posts are bolted boards.

1356 in Pipe Roll 32 Edw. III m. 34/1 Reddit compotum..de x. *stertropes, xlij vptieghes, xliij bowlynes [etc.]. Ibid. m. 34/2, j copula de baksteys, i sterterope.

▪ II. start, n.²
    (stɑːt)
    Forms: ? 3, 4–6 stert(e, 5 stertte, stirt, 6 styrt, 5–6 styrte, starte, 6 startte, 6– start.
    [f. start v.]
    1. a. A short space of time, a moment. Often used adverbially. Obs.

[a 1225: see start-while in 12.] a 1300 Cursor M. 14298 Iesus beheild þan hir a stert, And had gret reuthnes in his hert. c 1375 Sc. Troy-bk. (Horstm.) i. 64 All wrath ande angry ine hys hert Stude studeande a litill stert. 14.. Erthe upon Erthe (1911) 24 Man, amende þe betyme, þi lyfe ys but a starte. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 476/1 Styrt, or lytyl whyle, momentum. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 894 In þat place duelt cuthbert With religiouse men a stert. c 1450 Holland Howlat 500 Was nane so stur in the steid micht stand him a start. c 1470 Rauf Coilȝear 892 This wickit warld is bot ane start. 1530 Palsgr. 854/1 A preaty start a go, une petite espace de temps. a 1552 Leland Itin. i. 119 An old manor place, wher in tymes paste sum of the Moulbrays lay for a starte. 1620 E. Blount Ep. Ded. in Shelton's Quixote ii, His study being to sweeten those short starts of your retirement from publique affaires.

    † b. A (short or long) distance. Obs.

a 1552 Leland Itin. iii. 31 First I markid a litle start above the haven mouth on the west side of it, a creeke caullid Stoken Teigne Hed. a 1553 Udall Royster D. iv. v. (Arb.) 67 Indeede he dwelleth hence a good stert I confesse. 1580 Lyly Euphues Eng. To Gentl. Rdrs. (Arb.) 223 Secondly, being a great start from Athens to England, he thought to staye for the aduantage of a Leape yeare.

    2. a. A sudden and transient effort of movement; in early use, † a leap, a rush. † at a start: with a bound, in an instant.

c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 847 This duc his courser with his spores smoot And at a stert he was bitwix hem two. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1109 And at a stirt, withouten tarying, Vn-to his cofre he dressith hym in hye. c 1440 Generydes 6699 Vnto hir chaunber sone he made a stert, And curtesly of hir his leve he toke. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 476/1 Styrte, or skyppe, saltus. Ibid. Styrte, of sodeyne mevynge, assultus. 1530 Palsgr. 276/2 Styrt a lepe, course. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 10 A Wood-Louse..has a swift motion, and runs by starts or stages. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. i. (1852) 16 The animals move with the narrow apex forwards by the aid of their vibratory ciliae, and generally by rapid starts.

    b. Sc. start and owerloup: the leaping of cattle over a fence into an adjoining pasture.

1707 Fountainhall Decis. (1761) II. 408 If they [cattle], in their transient passage, do any skaith by start and o'erloup. 1827 Scott Two Drovers ii, The cattle..derived their subsistence..sometimes by the tempting opportunity of a start and owerloup, or invasion of the neighbouring pasture.

    † c. A sudden journey; a sudden flight, invasion, etc. to take the start: to decamp, run away. Obs.
    ‘The Start’, applied by historians to the flight from Perth of Charles II in 1650, is derived from quot. 1650, where however the use of the word is not in any way special.

1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. viii. 45 Wer't not a shame, that..The fearfull French..Should make a start ore-seas, and vanquish you? 1596 ― Merch. V. ii. ii. 6 The fiend..tempts me, saying to me, Iobbe,..vse your legs, take the start, run awaie. 1650 R. Baillie Lett. & Jrnls. (Bannatyne Club) III. 117 The King..did willinglie returne, exceedinglie confounded and dejected for that ill-advysed start. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. xiii. §48 It was indeed a very empty and unprepared design,..and might well have ruined the King, and was afterwards called the Start. 1804 M. Laing Hist. Scot. III. 437 This incident was termed the Start. 1894 Gardiner Commw. & Protectorate I. 376 Such was Charles's escapade, to which Scottish writers give the name of ‘The Start’.

    d. A sudden acceleration of progress or growth.

1817 Malthus Popul. I. 365 The population of Norway..has made a start within the last ten or fifteen years. 1877 G. F. Chambers Astron. (ed. 3) 37 Of late years the study of the sun has taken a remarkable start.

    3. a. A sudden involuntary movement of the body, occasioned by surprise, terror, joy or grief, or the recollection of something forgotten. Phrase, to give a start.

c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 254 And ther-with-al his body sholde sterte, and wiþ þe stert al sodeynlych a-wake. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 63 O, these flawes and starts..would well become A womans story. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. i. 555 The fright awaken'd Arcite with a start. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 109 ¶2, I imagine the start of attention awakened. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas x. vi. (Rtldg.) 351 He assumed the start of a man who all at once hits upon a circumstance which had hitherto escaped his recollection. 1825 Scott Betrothed Introd., In the general start and exclamation which followed this annunciation, Mr. Oldbuck dropped his snuff-box. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola ii. xxiv, He gave a start of astonishment, and stood still. 1897 A. E. Houghton Gilbert Murray xix. 291 His eyes wandered to the ring. What a start he gave! 1902 R. Bagot Donna Diana xvi. 196 One or two old men were dozing upon their chairs, waking up every now and then with a start.

with adv. 1840 Browning Sordello iii. 638 Thus do I interpret the significance Of the bard's start aside and look askance.

    b. to give (a person) a start: to startle.

1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxix, What for did ye come creepin' to your ain house as if ye had been an unco body, to gie poor auld Ailie sic a start?

    4. a. A starting into activity; a sudden and transient effort or display of energy.

1605 Shakes. Lear i. i. 304 Such vnconstant starts are we like to have from him, as this of Kents banishment. 1847 Tennyson Princess i. 53 A gentleman of broken means..but given to starts and bursts Of revel. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 205 He continued to the very last to show, by occasional starts and struggles, his impatience of the French yoke.

    b. by starts, † at starts, later chiefly † by starts and fits, now by fits and starts (see fit n.² 4 c): intermittently, not continuously or with sustained effort.
    The earliest examples may be referred to sense 1.

1421–2 Hoccleve Dialog 505 By stirtes when þat a fressh lust me takith, Wole I me bisye now and now a lyte. 1515 Barclay Eglog ii. (1570) B ij, To hir mayst thou come but onely nowe and then, By stealth and startes as priuily as thou can. 1530 Palsgr. 858/1 At startes, par foys. 1557 P. Hoby in Burgon's Life Gresham (1839) I. 225 But you come so by sterts, as to-night you are here, and tomorrowe you are gone. 1586 Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 83/1 They [sc. the Irish]..performed by starts (as their manner is) the dutie of good subiects. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 51 This little Treatise..being gathered and compiled by starts, as my leysure would serve. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard A 2 b, I took vp my Pen againe, and at starts and tymes finished it. 1630 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 53 So we at starts do assent to the sweet and precious promises. 1640 Wilkins New Planet viii. (1707) 223 The Motion of the Earth is always equal and like it self; not by starts and fits. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 548 Was Every thing by starts, and Nothing long. 1728 Earl of Ailesbury Mem. (1890) 261 But I knew he had by starts great notions of generosity. 1747 Collins Ode Passions 28 'Twas sad by fits, by starts 'twas wild. 1799 Ht. Lee Canterb. Tales, Frenchm. Tale (ed. 2) I. 239 The letters he daily received..induced him, by starts, to betray [etc.]. 1817 Coleridge Biogr. Lit. II. xxii. 131 Let it likewise be shown how far the influence has acted; whether diffusively, or only by starts. 1841 Dickens Barn. Rudge lxvi, He..had watched with little intermission for some weeks past, sleeping only in the day by starts and snatches.

    † c. on the start: ? suddenly, without warning.

1601 Shakes. All's Well iii. ii. 52, I haue felt so many quirkes of ioy and greefe, That the first face of neither on the start can woman me vntoo't. a 1637 B. Jonson Sad Shepherd iii. iv, My men shall hunt you too upon the start, And course you soundly.

    d. A sudden fit of passion, grief, joy, madness, etc.; an outburst, sally, or flight of wit, humour, or fancy. Now rare or Obs.

1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 125 Thou, that art like enough, through..the start of spleene, To fight against me. a 1652 Brome Queen & Concubine i. iii. (1659) 7 This is one of his un-to-be-examin'd hastie Humours, one of his starts. 1682 Dryden Duke of Guise ii. i, I've heard you say, You'd arm against the League; why do you not? The thoughts of such as you, are starts divine. 1692 L'Estrange Fables cclxiii. 230 There are several Starts of Fancy, that Off-hand look well enough; but [etc.]. 1713 Guardian No. 103 ¶6 We were well enough pleased with this Start of Thought. 1772 F. Burney Early Diary (1889) I. 143 In defiance of the gloom his misfortunes have cast over him, some starts of his former, his native vivacity break out. 1790 Cowper In Mem. J. Thornton 41 Such was thy Charity; no sudden start, After long sleep of passion in the heart, But steadfast principle. 1802 H. Martin Helen of Glenross II. 134 Did you then know your sister liable to occasional starts of the infirmity that afterwards became rooted and declared incurable? 1816 L. Hunt Rimini iv. 131 A passionate start Of tears and kindness. 1823 J. Simpson Ricardo the Outlaw II. 29 It was not a start of momentary passion, but an oath calmly, and deliberately taken.

    e. A sudden broken utterance or burst of sound.

1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. ii. 22 Me thought her eyes had lost her tongue, For she did speake in starts distractedly. 1816 L. Hunt Rimini i. 103 Another start of trumpets, with reply. 1878 R. W. Gilder Poet & Master 57 Where he might listen to the starts and thrills Of birds that sang and rustled in the trees.

    5. a. A beginning to move; a setting out on a journey or a race; the beginning of a career, of a course of action, a series of events, etc.
    false start: in Racing, a wrong start, necessitating return to the starting-point; hence gen. an unsuccessful attempt to begin something (e.g. a speech, a song, a business).

1566 Gresham in Burgon Life (1839) II. 109 Beinge within xiiii mile of my howse of Rinxall, (whereas I make all my provision for my timber for the Burse,) I was so bolde [as] to make a starte to vewe the same. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxxix. x, While circling time, still ending and beginning, Shall runne the race where stopp nor start appeares. 1693 Prideaux Lett. (Camden) 165 We have a young nobleman of our countey that now makes his first start in London. 1811 Sporting Mag. XXXVIII. 109 A great number of genteel folks attended the start. 1834 Marryat P. Simple xxi, The new moon's quartered in with foul weather; if it holds, prepare for a start. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 63 There is nothing in life like making a good start. 1850 Smedley Frank Fairlegh xxxi. 260 Pilkington..was partly coaxed, partly coerced into attempting the only song he knew,..in which performance, after making four false starts,..he contrived..to get as far as the words [etc.]. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports 370 If any jockey is evidently and wilfully the cause of a false start, the starter reports the same to the stewards, who have power to fine him. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. iv. (1877) 87 In the eyes of others too, his goodness would appear to have taken a fresh start. 1879 B. Taylor Ger. Lit. 167 We found ourselves at the start in a rough land of mountains. 1911 G. P. Gooch Hist. Our Time x. 234 Women have voted in County Council elections from the start.

    b. Phr. from start to finish. Also start-to-stop, used (usu. attrib.) with reference to train journeys or their schedules.

1868 Field 4 July 14/3 A slashing race was rowed from start to finish between the two former [boats]. 1894 Illustr. Lond. News Christmas No. 22/3 The whole thing was unusual, from start to finish. 1896 Spectator 25 Apr. 580 The plot interest..is sustained from start to finish. 1899 Railway Mag. IV. 375/1 They comprise one of the best start-to-stop runs I have ever had on a British line. 1931 Times Educ. Suppl. 19 Sept. (Home & Classroom Section) p. ii/2 (caption) The Great Western Railway Company regained this week the record for the fastest start-to-stop journey in the world. 1936 Discovery Nov. 356/1 Two or three runs booked, start-to-stop, at over 80 miles an hour. 1968 O. S. Nock Railway Enthusiast's Encycl. 279 The run of the ‘Silver Jubilee’ from King's Cross to Darlington is also tabulated; and finally that of the ‘Coronation’, introduced in 1937, with the fastest start-to-stop schedule ever tabled with steam in Great Britain.

    † c. to strain or draw on the start: of hounds, to strain on the leash. Obs.

1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. i. 32, I see you stand like Greyhounds in the slips, Straying [Rowe straining] vpon the Start. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxiii. 338 And whilst the eager dogs vpon the Start doe draw, Shee riseth from her seat.

    d. An act of setting in motion; an impulse to movement; a signal for starting in a race, etc.

1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. vii. 194 How much I had to doe to calme his rage? Now feare I this will giue it start againe. c 1612 in Hore's Hist. Newmarket (1885) I. 331 Lastlie, for giving of the starte, either Mr. Sheriffes for the time being, or whom Mr. Maior will appointe. 1891 N. Gould Double Event xvii. 123 The six starters were now at the post, and at the second attempt Mr. Watson let the flag go to one of his best starts. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 273 If plates are slightly larger than ordinary, they may be slow in moving, and it might be necessary to tap the camera to effect the start. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 65/1 [In the Tug-of-War] The start shall be by word of mouth. 1904 E. H. Coleridge Life Ld. Coleridge II. 107 If..Keble's sermon on ‘National Apostacy’..was the start or set-off of the Catholic Revival.

    e. An opportunity or an assistance given for starting or entering on a career or course of action. Often a start in life.

1849 H. Martineau Hist. Peace iv. x. (1877) III. 75 All were to have a fresh start—to be allowed the free use of their best powers. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 171 The Norman Conquest may very well have given the native element a fresh start. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. lviii. II. 405 Nobody can get an early and easy start on the strength of his name and connections. 1902 E. Banks Newsp. Girl xxviii. 310 Then, as I was not to be turned back, he took me on and gave me my start—a better start..than falls to the lot of many girls who begin the life journalistic. 1907 Verney Mem. I. 95 He was given a fresh start by his long-suffering father. 1908 Times 20 July 19/4 It does not affect the special funds..for helping towards the education or start in life of clergy children.

    f. The starting-point (of a journey).

1881 in J. Hatton's New Ceylon vi. 166 From the morning's start, the rapids, we only covered six miles.

    g. Sport. By synedoche, a contest, race, or game. Chiefly N. Amer.

1944 Sun (Baltimore) 23 Feb. 12/3 Davis is a welter⁓weight... Davis isn't that good. At least he never has been in most of his previous starts. 1949 Richmond (Va.) Times-Despatch 10 Oct. 13/2 The Rebels, in gaining their third win in four league starts..won it as convincingly as the score would indicate. 1966 Telegraph (Brisbane) 22 Jan. 5/2 He [sc. a horse] started racing in November, and in five starts has tallied a win, second, and a third. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 32/3 Winless in 14 previous starts this season, Miss Ella Cinders had little trouble with Sandy Hawley up last Saturday as she galloped to a 12-length win. 1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. d1/7 The hapless, helpless Nats..couldn't hold off the East Division champions, who have captured nine consecutive starts.

    h. The act of beginning to build a house. Also housing start.

1946 Sun (Baltimore) 20 Aug. 8/2 The Wyatt office claims about 406,000 ‘starts’ of dwelling units in the first five months of the year. 1955 Times 30 May 11/1 New housing ‘starts’ rose in April but by less than they usually do over March. 1966 New Statesman 25 Nov. 769/2 What is worrying is that the starts are falling in the private sector and, as a house takes an average of about a year to build, the effects will be projected into next year's figures. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 22 May 8/3 Around 28 to 29 per cent of all single-family housing starts.

    i. Phr. for a start: to begin with. colloq. Cf. starter 3.

1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris iii. 56, I..found Montherlant's Les Célibataires... ‘That's a good one for a start.’ 1971 Radio Times 21 Aug. 47/3 What makes Raven unusual? For a start he's 46, and..he was a ballet dancer, a lieutenant of infantry, a classical actor and a television producer. 1978 L. Thomas Ormerod's Landing iii. 48 Everybody else knows... The submarine crew know for a start.

    6. a. Advantage gained by starting first in a race or on a journey; in wider sense, position in advance of competitors whether obtained at the beginning or in the course of a race, etc. Hence gen. priority or position in advance of others in any competitive undertaking. Chiefly in to get, have, † take the start (of a competitor); also with words indicating the amount in time or distance of the advantage, as in ten minutes start, ten yards start.

1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 418 Those, who hauing gotten the starte in a race, thinke none to be neere their heeles. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 171 You have the start of me. 1601 ― Jul. C. i. ii. 130 It doth amaze me, A man of such a feeble temper should So get the start of the Maiesticke world. 1608 D. T[uvill] Ess. Pol. & Mor. 45 b, As they haue the start of all men in the one: so loue they not to bee out-stript by any in the other. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xv. v. 39 But for all the running hast we made, a certaine wandering and flying fame had gotten the start of us. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World i. viii. §2. 131 Hauing withall the start of 130 yeares, to raise themselues without controlement. 1665 Bunyan Holy Citie (1669) 98 The Twelve will have the start of him; for they both had the Spirit as he, and more then he. 1682 Ken Serm. Wks. (1838) 127 We were all travelling the same way, as pilgrims towards our heavenly country, she has only got the start of us, is gone before, and is happy first. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton vi. (1840) 108 Having..about three hundred yards the start of the lion. 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. i, Our men had the start of him half a league. 1732 Kames Decis. Crt. Sess. 1730–52 (1799) 11 Several of these creditors, taking the start, laid arrestments in the hands of the accepters of these bills. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 278 Twitch⁓grass and other Weeds..got the start of the St. Foyn and kill'd it. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Sat. ii. vi. 50 Be nimble to perform your part, Lest any rival get the start. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas x. vi. (Rtldg.) 351, I remained motionless for some seconds, which gave him time to get the start of me. 1812 Southey Lett. (1856) II. 309, I have got start enough with Ballantyne to lay the Debates aside, and take a spell at Abella's documents. 1826 Lamb Pop. Fallacies xiv, It is flattering to get the start of a lazy world. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. iv, I did not go to the office till half an hour after opening time... I was not sorry to let Hoskins have the start of me, and tell the chaps what had taken place. 1861 K. H. Digby Chapel of St. John (1863) 169 She never suffered her imagination to get the start of her judgment. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay v, The hopelessness of the search in the face of nearly twenty-four hours' start. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 258 Ngouta and the Ajumba used to sit down..and I also, for a few minutes,..and then I would go on alone, thus getting a good start.

    ¶ b. In early use sometimes loosely: Superiority.

1611 B. Jonson Catiline iii. ii, Here is a Lady, that hath got the start In piety, of vs all. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) I. v. xxvii. 164, I have bin shewn for Irish and Bascuence Imperfect rules couchd in an Accidence: But I find none of these can take the start Of Davies. Ibid. I. vi. xxxv. 224 Dr. Jorden hath got the start of any that ever wrote of this subject.

    † 7. A starting aside; a deviation or digression.

1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. B 2, For all the laude of vertue standeth in effectuall exercyse, fro the whiche not withstandynge a sterte or pause maye be made [a qua tamen saepe fit intermissio]. 1576 Fleming tr. Caius' Engl. Dogges v. (1880) 37 A starte to outlandishe Dogges in this conclusion, not impertinent to the Authors purpose.

    8. Mining. = leap n.¹ 6.

1778 W. Pryce Min. Cornub. 106 The most considerable disorder which Lodes are liable to..is what is termed a Start, a Leap. 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 354 The horizontal start or joint which cuts off the vein as they go down in it, does not cut if off in the true horizontal line, but leans or declines a little some way. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 40/2 Sometimes a vein will suddenly disappear without giving any warning by becoming narrower or of worse quality; which by the miners is called a start or leap.

    † 9. U.S. The name of some game. Obs.

1788 J. Q. Adams Diary (1903) 91 Afterwards play'd a number of very amusing sports, such as start.

    10. Whaling. (See quots.)
    Cf. sense 1 b; but direct connexion seems very unlikely.

1836 Uncle Philip's Convers. Whale Fishery 48 When the fish rises within two hundred yards of [the boat, it]..is then said to ‘come up within a start’. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 146 The boats meanwhile separate..in order that one at least may be within ‘a start’—that is, about two hundred yards from the point of its rising.

    11. slang. a. A prison, esp. Newgate.

1756 J. Cox Narr. Thief-taker 66 The Prisoner replied, that he was going to the Start for nimming a Cull in his Eye. 1796 Grose's Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 3), Start, or the Old Start, Newgate. 1823 ‘Jon Bee’ Dict. Turf s.v., The Start. Newgate is thus termed, par excellence. But every felon-prison would be equally a start.

    b. the Start: a vagrants' name for London.

1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 312 All the ‘regular bang⁓up fakes’ are manufactured in the ‘Start’ (metropolis). 1860 Hotten's Slang Dict. 227 ‘The start’, London,—the great starting point for beggars and tramps. 1862 Cornhill Mag. Nov. 648, I will send a few thickuns to bring you and your tamtart up to Start.

    c. A proceeding or incident that causes surprise; = go n.¹ 3.

1837 Dickens Pickw. xxii, What with your mother-in-law a worrying me to go, and what with my looking for'ard to seein' some queer starts if I did, I put my name down for a ticket. 1853 ― Bleak Ho. xi, Being asked what he thinks of the proceedings, [Little Swills] characterises them (his strength lying in a slangular direction) as ‘a rummy start’. 1857 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold iii. xiv, Here's a start! a reg'lar twicer! 1880 Payn Confid. Agent I. 138 That's the rummest start I ever knew. 1905 H. A. Vachell Hill vi. 136 Of all the queer starts I―.

    12. Comb.: start button, a switch that is pressed in order to set a machine or process in action; † start-hole, the hole in which an animal takes shelter; = starting-hole; start-line = starting-line s.v. starting vbl. n. 2 b; chiefly transf. and fig., esp. in Mil. use (see quot. 1961); start-point rare = starting-point; † start-while = sense 1.

1964 *Start button [see control register s.v. control n. 5]. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 190/1 When the start-button of the machine is pressed, it simply causes the programmed procedure to operate on the data, giving rise to an action which will depend entirely on the data and the procedure. 1977 D. MacKenzie Raven & Kamikaze iii. 40 He..plugged the cable into a wall-socket and thumbed the start button.

1624 Heywood Captives i. iii. in Bullen Old Plays IV. 125 France shall not conteine them But I will finde theire *start-holes.

1945 E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited 224, I would..think at such and such a time..I shall cross the *start-line and open my attack for better or worse... With Julia there were no phases, no start⁓line, no tactics at all. 1946 G. Millar Horned Pigeon ii. 32 Rommel's Afrika Korps were on the start line of their long advance. 1961 W. Vaughan-Thomas Anzio v. 69 The concept of a start line—an essential part of infantry tactics—is simply a matter of applied common sense... Just as in a race in athletics all competitors must line up at a starting-point..so, in the infinitely more exacting race of an infantry attack, the unit—be it battalion, brigade or division—needs some feature on the ground along which the troops can be lined for the take off. 1982 J. Wainwright Anatomy of Riot 15 In Army parlance he was going to be the field commander when the war left the start-line.

1876 Ruskin Fors Clav. lxii. 59, I find myself..without any *start-point for attempt to understand them.

a 1225 Ancr. R. 336 Þe þeof o þe rode..in one *sterthwule hefde of him milce.

▪ III. † start, n.³ Obs. rare.
    Also stert.
    [Perh. a. Du. staart, tail, in allusion to the old accusation that Englishmen had tails. But cf. WFlemish drilsteert, plaagstaert, a bore, vraagsteert a prying person.]
    A supposed Dutch term of contempt for an Englishman.

1673 Dryden Amboyna i. i. 3 Hang 'em base English sterts. Ibid. v. i. (end) Then in full Romers, and with joyful Hearts We'l drink confusion to all English Starts.

▪ IV. start, v.
    (stɑːt)
    Pa. tense and pple. started. Forms: (? 1 north. pr. pple. sturtende), 3–6 sterte, 3 -storte, (3 3rd sing. pres. start, stard), 4–6 styrt, 4–7 stirt(e, (5 3rd sing. pres. stirt), 4–7 sturt(e, stert, starte, 6 Sc. stairt, 4– start. pa. tense 3–5 sturte, stirt(e, 3 storte, 3–6 sterte, 4–5 sturt, 4–6 stert, 4–7 start(e, styrte, 6 stertt, styrtt, steart; 5 stirted, 6 sterted, 6– started. pa. pple. 4 stirt, styrt, 4–6 stert(e, 5 stirte, 6–7 start; 6– started.
    [App. two formations representing different ablaut-grades of the Teut. root *stert- (: start-: sturt-). The OE. styrtan (only once, in pres. pple. styrtende, miswritten stvrtende) corresponds formally to (M)LG. störten, (M)Du. storten, WFris. stoarte, NFris. stört, OHG. sturzen (MHG., mod.G. stürzen), MSw. styrta, störta, (mod.Sw. störta, Da. styrte):—OTeut. *sturtjan. The verb in continental Teut. has the senses: To overthrow, precipitate, overturn; to empty by overturning, to pour out; also intr. to rush, to fall headlong, to gush out. (The mod.Fris. forms are certainly from Du. and LG.; the word may possibly be native in Scandinavian, but the senses in Sw. and Da. are largely adopted from Ger.)
    The ME. sterte (whence mod.Eng. start) is, so far as it is a southern form, explicable as the Kentish representative of OE. styrtan, whence in other ME. dialects sturte, stirte, etc. But the occurrence of sterte in early northern English, and of its normal phonetic descendants in mod.Sc. and northern dialects, points to the existence of a form (? OE. *steortian, ? *stiertan) corresponding to MHG. sterzen (also starzen) trans. and intr. to set up (or stand) stiffly, to move briskly.
    Other derivatives of the root are start n.¹ (f. *stert-), OE. steartlian (f. *start-) to stumble: see startle v. No cognates outside Teut. are known.]
    I. Intransitive uses.
    † 1. To leap, jump, caper; also, to leap or spring upon a horse, into water, etc. Obs.

a 1000 Rit. Dunelm. 57/27 Exiliens claudus stetit stvrtende se halta ᵹistod. c 1240 Cuckoo Song, Bulluc sterteþ.

c 1250 Owl & Night. 379 He [sc. the hare] huphþ & start [Cott. stard] swiþe cove & secheþ paþes to þe groue. a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 344 Him luste not to play ne sterte Ne for to dauncen, ne to synge. 1375 Barbour Bruce viii. 471 In gret hy thair hors hint thai, And stert apon thame sturdely. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 697 And with that word nakyd with ful good herte Among the serpentis in the pit sche styrte. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 35 Þanne þe camel..gan to lepe and [to] sterte. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxx. 110 (Harl. MS.) Abowte the sydes of þe diche wer iiij frogges sterting. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 476/1 Styrtyn, or skyppyn, salto. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xvi. xv. 684 Therfore starte vpon thy hors. 1480 Robt. Devyll 813 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 250 So daunced and leapt [he,] and aboute so starte. c 1500 Lancelot 994 He, to qwham the presone hath ben smart, With glaid desir apone his cursour start. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. 109 Quhat gart ȝow montanis lyke rammis stert & stend?

    2. a. To move with a bound or sudden violent impulse from a position of rest; to come suddenly from, out of a place of concealment. Also with out.

c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. 86/91 He sturte out of þis deope Roche. a 1300 Cursor M. 12527 A nedder stert vte of þe sand. a 1300 Floris & Bl. 457 (Camb. MS.) Into þe cupe he sterte aȝen, And wiþ þe flures he hudde him. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints viii. (Philip) 17 A fel dragone, lyk to be wod, come startand owt al sudanly. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1826 Out of the ground a furie Infernal sterte. c 1386 ― Merch. T. 909 This Damyan thanne hath opened the wyket And In he stirte. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 131 He sterte unto me, and seide, ‘Slepest thou, man’? c 1440 Promp. Parv. 476/1 Styrtyn, or sodenly mevyn, impeto. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xx. 66 There with he sterte vnto the kynges hors and mounted in to the sadel. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 83/1 Thenne Vago..wente into the tabernacle of Judith and fonde her not and sterte out to the peple. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 338 With those wordes he had thought to haue lept agayne to his horse, but he fayled of the Styrop, and the horse sterted awaye. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 12 Dizzie-ey'd Furie..Suddenly made him from my side to start Into the clustring Battaile of the French. 1623 J. Meade in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 119 The King awakened with this noise, start out of his bed, and cryed ‘Treason, Treason’. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 449 Out of the wood he starts in wonted shape. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 496 Starting at once from their green Seats, they rise; Fear in their Heart, Amazement in their Eyes. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 11 May 1652, At a place call'd the Procession Oake, two cut-throates started out. 1815 Scott Guy M. x, She had seen Meg Merrilies..start suddenly out of a thicket. 1829 Chapters Phys. Sci. 22 If a horse that was standing still suddenly starts forward. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. iii. iii, For one moment..he starts aloft..to sink then for evermore! 1859 Tennyson Enid 1331 Who saw the chargers..Start from their fallen lords, and wildly fly.

    b. To spring on, upon one's feet.

c 1400 Destr. Troy 10977 And ho stithly in the stoure start vppon fote. c 1420 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 566 Than Pheb[e] styrt vppon her fete And seyd [etc.]. a 1605 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxxiii. 21 Vpon my feet incontinent I start. 1847 Tennyson Princess i. 59 He started on his feet.

    † c. To make a sudden attack (upon). Obs.

c 1440 Ps. Penit. (1894) 16 Lat never the fend..Sterte upon me with no stelthe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 476/1 Styrtyn, or brunton, or sodenly comyn a-ȝen a enmy,..insilio, irruo.

    d. To awake suddenly from, out of, † out (sleep, reverie).

c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 1004 She ferde, as she had stert out of a sleepe. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour 68 And for the fere that the Ermite hadde, he sterte and waked oute of his auisyon. c 1566 Merie Tales of Skelton in S.'s Wks. (1843) I. p. lxix, The preest, hearyng the bell tolle, starte oute of his slepe. 1581 A. Hall Iliad x. 176 He starteth out his sleepe, and vp to them he thus began. 1591 Greene Maiden's Dream in Shaks. Soc. Papers (1845) II. 145 The people shouted such a screame, That I awooke, and start out of my dreame. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xxiv. 612 This said, the king (affraid) Start from his sleepe. 1737 [S. Berington] G. de Lucca's Mem. (1738) 51, I started out of my Reveries as if I had awak'd from a real Dream. 1770 M. Bruce in J. Mackenzie Life & Wks. (1914) 173 Strait all the chatt'ring tribe obey; Start from their trance and wing away. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. iv, Let Paris court a little fever-sleep;..or from time to time start awake, and look out, palpitating, in its nightcap. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay vii, ‘Yes’, he exclaimed, starting from his thoughts, ‘I have heard, but..not taken in the sense of what you have been saying.’ 1906 E. A. Abbott Silanus iv. 41, The cock was still crowing when I started out of my dream.

    e. To move suddenly from one's place, as to avoid a danger; hence fig. to flinch or recoil from something in alarm or repugnance. Chiefly with adv., back († on back, aback), aside.

a 1300 Cursor M. 8901 Þe tre sco stert al gloppend fra. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 226 And anon þe fend was aferd, and starte on bakke. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xiv. 328 He toke a staff, & caste it after Estorfawde but Estorfawd sterte from his place. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 234 Scho suld not stert for his straik a stray breid of erd. 1530 Palsgr. 733/2, I starte asyde, as one dothe that shrinketh with his bodye when he seeth a daunger towardes. ? a 1550 Freiris Berwik 568 in Dunbar's Poems 304 With that Freir Robert stert abak and saw [etc.]. 1657 N. Billingsley Brachy-Martyrol. ii. vii. 177 By God's grace, I will nothing start aside. 1679 Dryden Œdipus i. i. 5 Nature her self start back when thou wert born. 1698 W. Chilcot Evil Thoughts iv. 96 Like a Man that accidentally treads upon an Adder, starts back immediately, and strives to make no more approaches to it. 1701 Norris Ideal World i. ii. 17 Even the men that talk at this rate shall presently start from it as from a bugbear or apparition. 1831 Scott Cast. Dang. xiv, The horse, too, upon which the lady rode, started back. 1861 Mrs. H. Wood Shadow of Ashlydyat i. ii, There ensued a proposal to knight him. He started from it with aversion. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset I. xiii. 113 [He] started back, appalled at the energy of the words used to him.

    f. In various figurative uses: To come suddenly into a condition; to go out of (one's wits); to burst into (anger); to emerge suddenly into (life, activity, etc.).

c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 660 And for dispeyr out of his wit he sterte. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5871 He, stithely astonyt, stert into yre. a 1600 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. xii. a. 1948 Starting in a rage. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 199 When all creation started into birth. Ibid. 550 His horse..Snorting, and starting into sudden rage. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xlvii, I have sometimes known her argue..with acuteness, and then in a moment start off into madness. 1802 Noble Wanderers I. 51 When kindred minds meet..they instantly start into amity, and become incorporated in affection. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. lxxxvii, At intervals, some bird from out the brakes Starts into voice a moment, then is still. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. ix. 217 The characters start into light, life, and identity.

    3. a. Of an inanimate thing: To issue suddenly and violently; to fly, flow, or be projected by a sudden impulse. Of tears: To burst out suddenly; to rise suddenly to the eyes.

c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1301 Therwith hise false terys out they sterte. Ibid. 851 The blod out of the wounde as brode sterte As watyr whan the condit brokyn is. c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iii. viii. 55 They maden them for to hurtlen ageyn a pyler, so that..hit semed as theyr brayne sturt oute. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula etc. 77 In ȝettyng in þe liquore with þe clistery þe liquor alsone stirt out vpon þe handez of þe leche. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 339 Than with a stew stert out the stoppell of my hals. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche vii. clxxix, She Seemd in that breast he suck'd alone to live: For thither leap'd her soul, and scarce could stop It self from sturting out with every drop. 1678 R. L'Estrange Seneca's Mor. ii. ix. (1696) 198 The Clawing of an Itch till the Blood starts. 1739 C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge 46 Some Springs unluckily starting in their Foundation, which they..could neither stop nor master. 1757 W. Wilkie Epigoniad v. 154 A flood of sorrow started to his eyes. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. vi, 'Tis said, at times the sullen tear would start, But Pride congeal'd the drop within his ee. 1831 James Phil. Augustus I. iii, Over one edge thereof poured a small but beautiful cascade, starting from mass to mass of volcanic rock. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic ii. 35 The chip of wax..had started into my eye when breaking the seal of a letter.

    b. Of the eyes: To burst out, escape from their sockets. Chiefly in hyperbolical use, expressing the effect of horror or fury.

1526 Whytford Martiloge 76 Of some theyr tongues rotted, & of some the eyes stert out of theyr hedes. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. v. 17, I could a Tale vnfold, whose lightest word Would..Make thy two eyes like Starres, start from their Spheres. 1605 ― Macb. iv. i. 116 Why do you shew me this?—A fourth? Start eyes! 1828 Ann. Reg. 375/1 The eyes [of the murdered woman] were not started, nor did the tongue hang out. 1863 Mrs. H. Wood Verner's Pride xlvi, His eyes were starting..and his hair rose up on end. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman v. vii. 304 Philip's blood⁓shot eyes seemed to be starting from his head.

    c. start out: to project; to become visible or conspicuous, burst into view.

1825 R. Chambers Tradit. Edin. I. 236 The pin..was formed of a small rod of iron, twisted or notched, which was placed perpendicularly, starting out a little from the door, and bore a small ring of the same metal. 1831 James Phil. Augustus I. ii, The road..now showed, now concealed, the abrupt mountain-peaks starting out from their thick vesture of wood. 1863 J. Hughes Pract. Photogr. (1866) 21 If it [the image] start out at once, directly the developer has flowed over the plate, the exposure has been too long.

    d. Of a plant: To spring up suddenly. rare.

1720 Ramsay Prosp. Plenty 225 A' the beauties o' the year Which start wi' ease frae the obedient soil. 1820 Shelley Sensit. Pl. iii. 62 And agarics and fungi..Started like mist from the wet ground old.

    e. In figurative uses: cf. 2 f. Also with forth (arch. and poet.): cf. sense 4 b.

1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 425 Dremys..been but as glasyng glemys Þat yn þe þouȝt stertys & lepys. c 1480 Henryson Test. Cresseid 538 Quhen Cresseid vnderstude that it was he, Stiffer than steill thair stert ane bitter stound. 1683 Dryden Dk. Guise i. i. 5 My Blood stands still. My Spirits start an end for Guise's Fate. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 389 Fear, pity, justice, indignation start. 1817 Keats I stood tip-toe 26, I was light-hearted, And many pleasures to my vision started. 1833 Newman Arians v. ii. (1876) 374 Theological subtleties were for ever starting into existence among the Greek Christians. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 447 When they are wanted to start into fruit, expected to be matured by June 1, we begin by [etc.]. 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist ii. 86 All day the stream of gloomy tenderness within him had started forth and returned upon itself in dark courses and eddies. Ibid. iv. 171 He seemed..to see the amount of his purchase start forth immediately in heaven..as a frail column of incense. 1939 C. S. Lewis in M. Black Importance of Lang. (1962) 37 A new metaphor simply starts forth, under the pressure of composition or argument.

    † f. Of a commodity: To rise suddenly in price.

a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Essex (1662) 318 No commodity starteth so soon and sinketh so suddainly in the price. 1767 T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. (1795) II. ii. 174 The extravagant price to which provisions had started.

    † 4. a. To go or come swiftly or hastily; to rush, hasten. In ME. verse occas. = to go. Obs.

a 1300 Cursor M. 8629 Vntil hir fere sco stert [Gött. stirt] in hij. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3600 He dede þen his stef stede stert a god spede. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1094 This Pandarus tok þe lettre and þat by tyme A morwe and to his Neces paleys sterte. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xx. 297 Þre þynges þer beoþ þat doþ a man to sterte Out of his owene hous. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xlix. 39 Ofte to churche loke þow sterte. ? a 1400 Festivals of Ch. 124 in Leg. Rood App. 214 To poure in prisoun þou schalt sterte. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxxiv, And whan she hath be wele ychased..so þat..she be abyte with houndes.. who so is nexte shulde sterte to geete her hoole fro hem. c 1440 Gesta Rom. 8 He stirte to þe bord, and tooke a faire gilt cowpe. c 1475 Babees Bk. 61 Stert nat Rudely; komme Inne an esy pace. 15.. Adam Bel 321 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 152 Wyllyam sterte to an offycer of y⊇ towne, Hys axe out of hys hande he wronge. 1575 Gammer Gurton iv. ii. 26 When ich saw this, ich was wrothe, see now, And start betwene them twaine, see now. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1664) 198 O how joyfull would my soul be to hear you start to the gate, and contend for the crown.

    b. with advs., as away, forth, in, to. In ME. sometimes with dative of reflexive pronoun. Obs.

1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4311 Þe romeyns sturte [v.r. stertte] to anon hor prince vor to arere. a 1300 Cursor M. 15782 Þai stert þam forth ilkan. c 1300 Havelok 873 Hauelok..stirte forth to þe kok. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2977 As ganhardin stert oway, His heued he brac þo, As he fleiȝe. 1382 Wyclif 1 Kings ii. 46 The kyng comaundide to Banaye,..the which stert to [Vulg. egressus], smoot hym, and he is deed. a 1400 St. Alexius 410 (Vernon MS.) Eufemian sturte him forþ as tit. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxx. (Arb.) 75 The man sterte awaye and was a ferde. 1518 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) II. 140 And then styrtt forth John powur Water Baker [etc.]..the whyche seyd to me [etc.]. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 412 Than sterte in mad Kyt, That had lyttle wyt. 1538 Elyot Dict., Fugitiuarius, startyng away, flyttyng. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 216 You start away, And lend no eare vnto my purposes.

    c. to start abroad, start astray: to desert one's place. Obs.

13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1716 He blenched aȝayn bilyue, & stifly start onstray. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6258 If any stert vpon stray, strike hym to dethe. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 19 Mony sterne our the streit stertis on stray. 1488 Caxton Chast. Goddes Chyldern 18 Somtyme sharply he smyteth to kepe in his chyldern that they shold not sterte abrode fro the scole.

    d. to start to (a weapon): to seize it hastily.

1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 127 Þanne [buskede] a bold kniht & to a bow stirte. c 1400 Melayne 331 And Rowland styrte þan to a brande And hastily hent it owte of a sarazene hande. 1567 Sat. Poems Reform. iii. 163 For the Quhilk cause vnto ane brand sho start, And slew hir self.

    e. Of immaterial things: To depart, pass away. Obs.

c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 237 The lyf shal rather out of my body sterte Than Makometes lawe out of myn herte. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. i. iv. (1867) 9 Who hopeth in Gods helpe, his helpe can not starte. 1558 W. Bullein Gov. Health A v b, Apoploxia and Vertigo, will neuer fro the starte, Vntill the vital blode, be killed in the harte. c 1560 Pullain Ps. cxlix. in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 495 The Lord's pleasure is in them that are his, Not willing to start; But all meanes do seke to succour the meke. 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 29 b, Leude is the loue that doeth not last, but startyng, taketh ende.

    5. a. To undergo a sudden involuntary movement of the body, resulting from surprise, fright, sudden pain, etc. Hence occas. to feel startled.

a 1529 Skelton Bouge of Court 502 Thenne I, astonyed of that sodeyne fraye, Sterte all at ones. 1530 Palsgr. 735/1, I sterte, I styrre, as one dothe for feare. 1590 Tarlton's News Purgatory To Rdrs., So fareth it with mee, for neuer before beeing in print I start at the sight of the Presse. a 1592 T. Watson Poems (Arb.) 201 Which hauing seene as one agast shee start. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 90 If he be chaste, the flame will..turne him to no paine: but if he start, It is the flesh of a corrupted hart. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 113 Some strange Commotion Is in his braine: He bites his lip, and starts. 1695 Blackmore Pr. Arth. ii. 456 He starts at every Noise. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia Voy. ii. 13, I started, and ask'd what he wanted? he told me to Bleed me. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 20 Hold up your Head, Girl; (Miss starts). 1742 Blair Grave 693 Then why, like ill-condition'd Children, Start we at transient Hardships? 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xix, You are no fool to start at shadows. 1829 ― Anne of G. xxix, It is by giving fair names to foul actions, that those who would start at real vice are led to practise its lessons. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. xiv. 162 Will Belton started so violently, and assumed on a sudden so manifest a look of anger, [etc.]. 1906 C. Mansfield Girl & Gods xi, Margaret started guiltily as though detected in an indecency. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert vii. 68 Jim started. ‘How did you know my name?’ he asked.

    b. said of a horse. Also, to start aside, to swerve suddenly from its course.

1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iii. iv. 87 Three times to-day my Foot-Cloth-Horse did stumble, And started, when he look'd vpon the Tower. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 136 In the heat of the fight they [sc. the horses] should start aside, affrighted. 1690 R. Meeke Diary 17 Nov. (1874) 31 As I rode home my horse starting at a stoop in the way, gave me a fall. 1726 Swift Gulliver i. iii, The horses..were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting. 1847 Lever Knt. Gwynne xviii, He [a horse] starts, or shies, or something of that sort—don't he? 1870 Bryant Iliad v. 360 His fiery steeds Started aside with fright.

    † 6. To escape. Cf. astart v. Obs.

a 1300 Cursor M. 7168 Vte o pair handes son he stert. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1592 (Camb. MS.) Þow þat I no wepene haue in þis place But out of prisoun am styrt [v.rr. astert(e, I-stert] by grace. c 1403 Lydg. Temple of Glas 584 Fro þe deþ, I trow, I mai not stert. c 1430 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 209 On doomysday þou schalt not starte. a 1542 Wyatt Poems, Go burning Sighs 7 Take with the payn..And eke the flame from which I cannot stert. 1622 J. Taylor (Water P.) Water-Cormorant E 2, And thence [sc. from the jail] he gets not, there he shall not start, Till the last drop of blood's wrong from his heart.

    † 7. To desert or revolt from (a leader, a party; to swerve from (a course, purpose, principle); to withdraw from (a promise, a treaty). Also with aside, back. Obs.

1542 Ld. Lisle Let. in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) III. 5 note, He durst not move the matter as yet to none of them; for if he shuld, he is sure they wolde starte from them. 1556 Olde Antichrist 199 b, He commaundeth us..not to starte fro them [the scriptures] one ynche. 1570 J. Phillip Frendly Larum in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 531 That from thy truth and testament No daunger cause us start. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 114 Neither wil I yeald so farre to the inuasions of feare, as to revolt and start back from my professed humanitie. 1581 A. Hall Iliad iv. 67 That we abate the Troyan glorious pride, By which, and by their arrogance from stricken pact they start. 1597 Beard Theatre God's Judgem. (1612) 501 Francis Pizarre..interrupted all their agreements by starting from his promises, and rekindled the halfe quenched fire of warre by his owne ambition. 1639 Fuller Holy War ii. xxv. 76 But here Baronius, who hitherto had leaned on Tyrius his authority, now starteth from it. 1652 Nedham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. title-p., Go on (great State) and make it known Thou never wilt forsake thine own, nor from thy purpose start. 1663 Patrick Pilgr. xviii. (1687) 175 The greedy humour of the world, who catch at all that presents it self, though they start out of their way to get it. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 452 No — nature unsophisticate by man, Starts not aside from her Creator's plan.

    8. Of a material thing: To break away from its place; to be displaced by pressure or shrinkage; to get loose. Chiefly in technical uses.

1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 274 b, The hopes kepeth fast the bordes of the vessell, y{supt} they disseuer not, & holdeth in y⊇ endes that they start not. 1570 Levins Manip. 33/35 To starte, dissilire. 1631 B. Jonson New Inn ii. vi, The best bow may start, And th' hand may vary. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxiv ¶8 Drawing and straining the Skin tighter, he drives in..Nails..to keep the Skin from starting as it Dries. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. ii. 317 A but-end or a plank might start, and we might go down immediately. 1758 Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 64 This ruddle..made a very good red,..and..would not start, nor alter its colour. a 1779 Cook 3rd Voy. iii. xi. (1784) II. 219 About seven o'clock..the anchor of the Resolution started, and she drove off the bank. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §318 The mortar in the joints had started. 1818 Art Bookbinding 12 The book must not be put to the fire to dry, as that would cause the foldings to start. 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. i. 11 Just as the ship floated several rivets started again. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 131 Start, leaves of books are said to ‘start’ when the sewing is defective, and the leaves are loose. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman iii. xi. 168 I've summered and wintered the man, haven't I? He's timber that doesn't start. 1912 Westm. Gaz. 17 Apr. 10/1 The force of the shock was so tremendous that the ‘Titanic’ started in every joint.

    9. Of a beast of the chase: To leave its lair; to be ‘started’. (Cf. sense 17.)

c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxxiii, To se if þe deer þat is herbowrede wolde sterte and steele away or þe lymer meved hym. 1576 Turberv. Venerie lix. 164 As soone as euer she [the hare] hearde the horne, she starte. 1714 Tyldesley Diary (1873) 172 Mopey seated us a hare w{suph} beet us ffor 3 how{supr}{sups}, but a fresh on started and sav{supd} her life.

    10. ‘To set out from the barrier at a race’ (J.). Also in figurative context.
    to start fair: to start on equal terms in a race, etc.

1645 Waller Poems, To a Friend 3 Faire course of Passion, where two Lovers start And run together, heart still yoakt in heart! 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 165 When from the Goal they start, The Youthful Charioteers with beating Heart, Rush to the Race. 1704 Cibber Careless Husb. iii. i. 24 Nay, Madam, let's start Fair. 1727 Boyer Eng.-Fr. Dict., To start (or begin to run) Partir. 1730 Cheny List Horse-Matches 5 The following four Year olds started for a Prize of 800 Guineas. 1870 Pall Mall Gaz. 23 Sept. 9/1 Hendre Claiming Stakes... Four started... County Members' Plate... Three started.

fig. 1780 Mirror No. 82 The King of Prussia [as the sign of an inn] began to give place a little to two popular favourites, who started at the same time, I mean Prince Ferdinand, and the Marquis of Granby.

    11. a. To set out, to begin a journey; to begin to move, to leave the point of departure in any kind of progression. Said of a person or animal; also of a vehicle, ship, etc. Also with off, (orig. U.S.) out, rarely away. Cf. sense 12 d.

1821 Scott Kenilw. xxiv, ‘To-morrow, madam’, he said to his charge, ‘we will, with your leave, again start early’. 1827 ― Surg. Dau. i, The good-daughter of Peg Thomson started off with an activity worthy of her mother-in-law. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. i. iv, These, with torches..start from Versailles on the second evening, with their leaden bier. 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol ii. 60 New top couple starting off again, as soon as they got there. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 413 In February 1693, near four hundred ships were ready to start. 1858 M{supc}Combie Hist. Victoria xv. 234 Immigrants who had not means to start for the diggings. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. iii. 23 Next morning I started with this man up the valley. 1885 Law Rep., Weekly Notes 146/1 The ship loaded the coals..and..started on her voyage to Bombay. 1896 Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign x, Ridley's column started to-day for the Shangani. 1898 F. Montgomery Tony 13 Mother! do just get in with me for a few minutes till the train starts. 1901 T. J. Alldridge Sherbro xxiii. 242 A pilot was provided for me..and the next morning at 6.30 I started away. 1925 E. O'Neill Desire under Elms in Compl. Wks. II. 170 We're free, old man..an' we're startin' out for the gold fields of Californi—a! 1933 ― Ah, Wilderness! ii. 71 He dared me to race him... So I said all right and we started out. We swam and swam and were pretty evenly matched. 1978 W. F. Buckley Stained Glass xii. 117 There are escort vessels, and it is quite a muddle if every boat decides for itself when to start out.

    b. To begin one's journey in or from a certain place.

1879 R. K. Douglas Confucianism iii. 90 A mountaineer..in order to reach the top of the peak, has to start from the foot. 1912 J. L. Myres Dawn Hist. ix. 191 The grassland heart of Asia Minor..is in fact as open as Hungary..to intruders who started in Turkestan.

    c. Of a motor vehicle or its engine: to begin to operate. Also with up.

1902 A. C. Harmsworth Motors & Motor-Driving ix. 165 A petrol engine will generally start most easily with all the cold-air inlets closed. 1904 J. F. Gill How to build Petrol Motor 57 When a speed of about four miles per hour has been obtained, the current may be switched on, after which, the motor should start. 1932 D. L. Sayers Have his Carcase xii. 145 The Morgan wouldn't start, not for toffee... On their..putting in a new one [sc. lead], the engine had started up at once. 1971 Daily Tel. 27 Oct. 13/5 The engine would start instantly from cold without using the choke control. 1973 L. Cooper Tea on Sunday iii. 44, I left early..because of the bad weather. I was afraid my car might not start.

    12. a. To begin a career, course of action, process, etc. Also of a process: To begin.

1798 Wordsw. Peter Bell i. 200 Who Peter was, let that be told, And start from the beginning. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 85 Wheat started at 48s. and 50s. per boll, and has now got up to 63s. 1818 Scott Rob Roy viii, The high tone with which the tune started, died away in a quaver of consternation. 1868 Field 4 July 9/2 Each bowler started with a maiden. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. iii. 102 A modern essayist starts where Addison or Johnson left off.

    b. With reference to reasoning. to start from or start with: to assume as one's point of departure.

1870 Newman Gram. Assent ii. x. 408 They and I start from the same principles, and what is proof to me is a proof to them. 1871 R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 51 The Darwinian theory starts from the assumption of organic types competent to reproduce themselves.

    c. Of a trader, a trading firm or company: To begin one's career. More fully to start in business.

1872 R. B. Smyth Min. & Min. Statist. 59 The Majestic Company was formed in February, 1861, from the previous company, known as Sim and Company, who started in 1857. 1875 H. J. Byron Our Boys 1, When I first started in business I'd the finest stock in Lambeth. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 62/2 He started in business on his own account.

    d. With adverbs. to start in colloq. (orig. U.S.): to begin; also to start in on; to start out: to set oneself, begin to do something; also const. prep.; to start over (U.S.): to begin again.

1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. at Home ii. (1882) 270 So when some roughs jumped the Catholic bone-yard and started in to stake out town lots in it, he went for 'em. 1885 Lisbon (Dakota) Star 2 Jan. 7/1 The United States commissioner for Dakota..started in to give the world a comprehensive idea of the resources..of the territory. 1892 ‘Mark Twain’ Amer. Claimant 138 He had started out on a high emprise. 1897 Sat. Rev. 19 June 597/1 If Mr. Clive Holland started out to write this story without knowing [etc.]. 1902 Wister Virginian xxix, I was starting in to die when she found me. 1912 Wodehouse Prince & Betty iv. 53 Then we start in. 1924 F. Scott Fitzgerald Let. 27 Oct. (1964) 168 I'm tired of being the author of This Side of Paradise and I want to start over. 1925 J. Buchan John Macnab vii. 144 In this country, once you start in on politics you're fixed in a class and members of a hierarchy. 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 20 Then I am willing to fight, I will roll my sleeves up And start in. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 68/2 She started out as a Tillie the Toiler. 1957 O. Nash You can't get there from Here 84 Once they start in on ideas and ideals they'll end up spouting ideologies and isms. 1965 M. Bradbury Stepping Westward ii. 112 Now go back to the beginning and start over. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 26 June 8/6 If it doesn't work, throw the whole mess out and start over, adding a teaspoon of active dry yeast and a few drops of vinegar at the beginning. 1978 T. Allbeury Lantern Network vii. 87 Chaland had started in straight⁓away. ‘Bonnier your group is far too big.’

    e. to start with (advb. phr.): = ‘to begin with’; at the beginning.

1866 Mrs. Oliphant Agnes I. xxii. 280 Her mind..was of a much higher order than his to start with.

    f. To begin to go to (school). U.S.

1836 W. Sewall Diary 10 Aug. (1930) 172/1 Henry and Catherine started to school. 1898 C. A. Bates Clothing Bk. No. 1279 That boy..will have to start to school soon. 1931 Amer. Speech VII. 20 Start, begin to go. Used mainly in the one expression, start to school. ‘I started to school when I was five.’ (Widespread.)

    g. to start (in) on: to attack; to nag or bully. Cf. sense 12 d above. colloq.

1907 G. B. Shaw Major Barbara ii. 214 When trade is bad..and the employers az to sack arf their men, they generally start on me. 1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned iii. 23 I'll give you five minutes, and then I'll start in on you. So hand over the two quid. 1967 J. Morrison in Coast to Coast 1965–6 140 The minute I mentioned it she started on me. 1968 Bethell & Burg tr. Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward I. xxi. 332 The critics may start in on you.

    h. Colloq. phr. don't you start, expressing exasperation at hearing sentiments (of praise, criticism, advice, etc.) repeated by another speaker.

1934 N. Marsh Man lay Dead x. 167 ‘You're a—a wonder,’ finished Nigel seriously. ‘Don't you start!’ said Mrs North. 1956 P. Scott Male Child ii. v. 157 ‘She ought to get out more.’ He grinned. ‘Now don't you start.’ 1974 ‘S. Woods’ Done to Death 129 ‘She's a spinster.’.. ‘Don't you start!’ said Hugh explosively.

    13. start up. a. To rise suddenly; to spring to an erect position (in ME. occas. † with dative of refl. pron.); also fig. to arise suddenly from inaction, bestir oneself.

c 1205 Lay 23951 Þær Bruttes wolden ouer water buȝen Ȝif Arður up ne sturte [c 1275 storte] strecliche sone. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2931 And pharaon stirte up a-non, And for-bed ðis folc to gon. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6581 Þis grete louerd sturte him vp þo he oþer ne sey. a 1330 Roland & V. 816 When rouland herd þat steuen He stirt him vp ful euen & fauȝt wiþ hert fre. c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 377 And vp they stirte, and dronken in this rage. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 83 Þis cokk starte vpp with his fedurs on, & clappid samen hys wengis & krew. 1526 Tindale Acts xiv. 10 And he stert vppe, and walked. 1530 Palsgr. 735/1, I sterte up sodaynly out of my bedde. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. iii. 100 She..now fals on her bed, and then starts vp. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 48 Andronicus..in great rage start up and said. 1653 D. Osborne Lett. (1888) 176, I, that had not said a word all night, started up at that, and desired they would say a little more on't, for I had not marked the beginning. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 813 Up he starts Discoverd and surpriz'd. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxviii, ‘The de'il, woman!’ exclaimed Cuddie, starting up, ‘trow ye that I am blind?’ 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story iii, ‘This is too bad!’ said Mrs. G. starting up. 1849–50 Alison Hist. Europe lvii. IX. 31 Prussia..would start up the moment that a serious reverse befell their [Austria's] eagles. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 9 Chaerephon..started up and ran to me, seizing my hand.

    b. Of the hair: To stand suddenly on end.

1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 122 Your bedded haire..Start vp, and stand an end. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 249 The hair of my head so started up, that it threw my cap on the ground.

    c. To rise suddenly to power or importance; to become suddenly conspicuous.

1556 Olde Antichrist 51 Anon Boniface of Rome the thrid of that name steart up. 1592 Timme Ten Eng. Lepers B 3 b, There hath start up false Christes. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 22 Up start the Turks, a vagrant, fierce, and cruell people.

    d. Of things: To come suddenly into being or notice, to spring up. Also loosely, to begin.

1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 77 Litle an litle thair forces beginning to florishe weirs of new startis vpe. 1596 Bacon Use Com. Law (1635) 47 Since..these notable Statutes..there is start up a device called Perpetuity. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iv. xlvii. 386 So did the Papacy start up on a Sudden out of the Ruines. 1673 Cave Prim. Chr. i. ii. 18 You are wont to object to us..that our Religion is novel, start up not many days ago. 1775 Earl Carlisle in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) III. 132, I am surrounded by difficulties, and as fast as I get the better of one another starts up. 1780 Mirror No. 102 Half a dozen societies have started up this winter, in which female speakers exercise their powers of elocution. 1836 C. P. Traill Backw. Canada 257 A village has started up where formerly a thick pinewood covered the ground. 1979 Southern Star (Eire) 29 Sept. 3/4 Mr. McCarthy also told Mr. Coleman that {pstlg}160,000 had been allocated for further work on the Cork-Brandon road and the Viaduct aided by the EEC Regional Development Fund and would start up in two weeks after the meeting. 1981 E. North Dames viii. 138 The music started up and played..a tango.

    † e. Of children: To grow up rapidly. Obs.

1650 Fuller Pisgah iv. vi. 103 From a child he starts up a youth, and becomes a stripling. 1753 Richardson Grandison (1754) II. viii. 51 Girls will start up, and look up, and parents cannot help it.

    f. Of a hill: To rise abruptly from the ground.

1820 Scott Monast. ii, A beautiful green knoll, which started up suddenly in the very throat of a..narrow glen.

    II. Transitive uses.
    † 14. To escape. (Cf. sense 6.) Obs. rare.

1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 113 Atte the dredfulle day he wolle axe acomptes where as there shalle none sterte to yelde ansuere. c 1460 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 292 Lord, þi iugement we may not sterte.

    15. † a. To cause to start or flinch; to startle. Obs.

c 1440 Ps. Penit. (1894) 31 Ther was no scorn, spotul, ne speche, Despit, ne stroke, that him sterte. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 256 Quhen a man or beste is sudaynly stert, thair naturale inclinacioun gevis thame of thair complexioun to a brethe. 1597 J. King On Jonas (1618) 91 Do you tarry to be started with the shrillest trumpet that euer blew? 1601 Shakes. All's Well v. iii. 233 You boggle shrewdly, euery feather starts you. 1604 ― Oth. i. i. 101 And now..dost thou come To start my quiet. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. iii. iv, Stage-dir., He is started with Broker's comming back. 1706 Estcourt Fair Example iv. i. 43 'Twill heighten my Revenge, when she thinks I come to make fresh Offers of my Love, to start her with Neglect and Scorn. 1756 M. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitl. Club) 225 What started me most was the bare plaister wall. 1822 Scott Peveril xxv, If my news have not frightened away Lance Outram too, whom they used to say nothing could start. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxv. 22 Soon as a mother's step starts her.

    b. To awaken out of sleep.

1753 J. Collier Art Torment. i. i. (1811) 33 She made such a noise as to start you suddenly out of your sleep. 1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope ii. 349 How can thy words from balmy slumber start Reposing Virtue, pillow'd on the heart!

    † 16. To ride (a horse) at full speed. Obs.

c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 251 Till him he stert the courser wondyr wicht, Drew out a suerd, so maid [hym] for to lycht.

    17. a. Hunting. To force (an animal, esp. a hare) to leave its lair, form, or resting-place. † Also with out.

c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 681 But as a blende man stert an hare. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxxiv, And whenne she [the hare] is founde and stirt, he shall blowe a moot and rechate. 1473 Paston Lett. (1897) III. 83 Raff Blaundrehasset wer a name to styrte an hare. I warrant ther shall come no suche name in owr bokys, ner in owr house; it myght per case styrt xxti harys at onys. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 283 b, I haue nede of a feret, to let into this beery to styrt out the conies: that they may be take aboue ground. 1576 Turberv. Venerie xxxvii. 100 An Hare started and a Fox vnkennelled. 1595 Locrine v. iv. 31 What, is the tigre started from his caue? 1659 N. R. Prov., Eng. Fr. etc. 73 Little dogs start the hare, the great one gets her. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vii. iii, The squire, however, sent after his sister the same holla which attends the departure of a hare, when she is first started before the hounds. 1769 E. Bancroft Guiana 177 They..when started, fly with a loud noise. 1817 Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 833 If A. start a hare in the ground of B., and hunt and kill it there. 1850 R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (ed. 2) I. 224 Shortly before outspanning we started three leopards that were consuming a duiker. 1883 Century Mag. Oct. 923/2 For a week or two at a time, the meadows may be worked over without starting a bird.

    b. transf.

1593 Marlowe Edw. II, 1848 They shalbe started thence I doubt it not. 1595 Shakes. John v. ii. 167 Do but start An eccho with the clamor of thy drumme. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 100 If we be not altogether ignorant of our selves, and wilfully blinde,..we can not choose but start and finde out a flatterer. 1716 B. Church Philip's War (1865) 43 They had not March'd above a quarter of a Mile before they started Three of the Enemy. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xix, The dogs bayed and howled, and we rode and scampered, and finally we started him [sc. a hunted negro].

    † c. fig.

a 1763 Shenstone Elegies xi. 58 We start false joys, and urge the devious race. 1781 Cowper Retirement 693 Learn'd philologists, who chase A panting syllable through time and space, Start it at home, and hunt it in the dark.

    † d. to start up (fig.): to track to its hiding-place. Also, to discover suddenly. Obs.
    Quot. 1674 may belong to 13 d.

1566 Drant Horace, Sat. i. v. C 4, To sterte vp in astrologie the casuals of men. a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. viii. i. (1821) 378 The minds of men..are ever and anon roving after religion; and as they casually and fortuitously start up any models and ideas of it, they are presently prone to believe themselves to have found out this only pearl of price. 1674 Essex Papers (Camden) I. 203 Now that this is almost consented to..a Patent of S{supr} Thomas Armstrong's is started up to obstruct it.

    18. To propound (a question, an objection); to introduce (a subject of discussion). Also const. forth. (rare).

1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. iii, For then reason, like a bad hound, spends upon a false sent, and forsakes the question first started. 1656 H. Phillips Purch. Pattern (1676) 13, I start this question. 1673 Hickeringill Greg. Father Greyb. 230 Methinks I hear the proverb started. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 231 This Paradox, was both late started amongst the Greeks, and quickly cried down by the Succession of their Philosophers. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes ii. 112 From what I last said another objection lies very obvious to be started. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. vi. 155 Will you give me liberty to start one difficulty here? 1786 F. Burney Diary Aug., Having..explained herself, she finished the subject, and has never started it since. a 1817 Jane Austen Northang. Abb. (1818) II. xiii. 245 She took the first opportunity..to start forth her obligation of going away very soon. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxviii, He prepared to apply himself..to his food, without starting another topic. a 1853 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xiii. 160 Many difficulties arose; such for instance as the one here started. 1877 Freeman Norm. Conq. I. App. 604 The charter of 934 starts a point of quite another kind.

    † 19. to start out: to put forth (a projection) abruptly. Obs.

1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 260 It is somewhat strange, that at so great a distance from the Continent, the Sea should start out an Island about 7. Leagues in compass.

    20. a. To discharge the contents of, empty (a vessel); to pour or shoot (liquids, coal, etc.) from one vessel into another.

a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Start, (Drink) Brewers emptying several Barrels into a great Tub; and thence conveying it through a Leather-pipe down the Cellar into the Butts. 1729 Capt. W. Wriglesworth MS. Log-bk. of the ‘Lyell’ 27 Oct., Took in 15 Puncheons of Water and started them into the Empty Butts in the Hold. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 88 The Captain told him not to start the Powder..without his Orders. 1799 Hull Advertiser 16 Mar. 4/2 Every exertion was..made to lighten the ship, by starting the water. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 399 Which fenk-back is sometimes provided with a clough..for ‘starting’ the fenks into a barge or lighter placed below. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 24 Charcoal might be started at once from its charring place to close vessels. Ibid. 102 The wine was anciently started into lead cisterns. 1826 Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 65 A stock of old beer can thus be increased expeditiously: start half of one full vat, when it is getting a little age, into another, and fill up both with new beer. 1830 Marryat King's Own xvi, The cocoa was in the tub,..but they started it all in the lee-scuppers. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 118 A small place..wherein the powder is started.

fig. 1879 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. Ser. iii. 273 When the cares of life begin to press, they start their cargo of classical lumber and fill the void with law or politics.

    b. Naut. (See quot. 1846.)

1744 J. Philips Jrnl. Exped. Anson 152 At Daylight observing our Ship had started her Anchors, we lowered our Yards. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 296 Start an Anchor, to make it lose its hold of the ground... Start a tack, or a sheet, to slack it off a little.

    21. a. To cause (a material thing) to ‘start’ or break away from its place; to displace by pressure or strain. Of a ship. To suffer the starting or giving way of (a plank, etc.).

1676 Wiseman Chirurg. Treat. vii. iv. 485 Another having by accident of a Fall in wrastling started the end of the Clavicle from the Sternon. 1711 W. Sutherland Ship-build. Assist. 46 Which may be of dangerous consequence..in starting the But. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. iii. (ed. 4) 33 The ship in rolling.. started the butt ends of her planking. 1753 Phil. Trans. XLVIII. 91 A plank of this door was started, and beat in. 1839 Marryat Phant. Ship xii, She had started one of her planks, and filled. 1840 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 137/2 The damage she sustained was trifling,..not a rivet was started.

    b. Mining. To displace (a vein) horizontally: said of another vein intersecting it.

1758 Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornwall 157 Guessing then from their experience in like cases that the lode is heaved, or more properly speaking started.

    22. a. To cause (a person, an animal, a vehicle) to start or set out in a race, on a journey; to cause to begin moving in any kind of progression. Also with off.

1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Horse-racing, Start him off roundly, and run him to the very Top of what he can do. 1850 Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. i. (1858) 7 Her unprecedented success started numbers on her track. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xxi. vi. VI. 597 Draught-horses..whom..you would see spring at the ropes..thirty of them to a gun, when started and gee-ho'd to. 1885 Law Rep. 10 Prob. Div. 100 The vessel was started again on her voyage with the machinery unaltered. 1890 Mrs. Kingscote Tales of Sun x. 125 This she gave to the brothers to eat on their way, and started them off to the woods.

fig. 1781 Cowper Charity 565 So self starts nothing but what tends apace Home to the goal where it began the race.

    b. To enter (a horse) for a race.

1885 Truth 28 May 853/2 The Payne Stakes, for which Lord Hastings very wisely started Melton.

    23. To cause to begin to act or operate. a. To cause or enable (a person) to start or enter on some course of action; to set up or establish in business.

1735 Dyche & Pardon Dict., Start..in the Brewers Trade, 'tis to supply a Customer with a Cellar of Beer, Ale, &c. in order to keep, settle, and refine some Months before it be drawn, &c. 1757 Foote Author i. Wks. 1799 I. 138, I intend giving him the run of Jonathan's for three months to understand trade and the funds; and then I'll start him. 1854 Poultry Chron. I. 69 The plan for starting the cottager in business..may appear tardy in its results.

    b. To set on foot, initiate, be the first to move in (a business); to set (a rumour) in circulation; † to originate, be the first to practise (an art).

1666 Pepys Diary 24 June, He started a discourse of a talk he hears about the town. 1699 Bentley Phalaris 237 Allowing then, that this Epigenes..started Tragedy before Thespis; still [etc.]. 1723 Waterland 2nd Vind. Christ's Divin. 95 Before the Arian Controversy was started. 1777 Burke Let. to E. Perry Wks. 1842 II. 405 The fair part, which the Whigs had acted in a business, which, though first started by them, was supposed equally acceptable to all sides. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. iv. 380 The Canons of Lyons started the opinion. 1902 R. Bagot Donna Diana xx. 242 No doubt it is honourable—according to the conception of honour existing among those who have started the story.

    c. To set going, cause to begin to operate; to set (machinery) in motion. Also with complementary infinitive or gerund, and with up (occas. absol.).

1841 in Loudon's Suburban Hort. (1842) 511 Cucumbers will succeed beautifully, trained against a south wall, if planted in a little good soil to start them. 1846 A. Soyer Cookery 330 Start it to boil over the fire. 1850 Mech. Mag. 20 Apr. 315 At the slightest tap of one of these bells, these enormous engines are stopped, or started or reversed. 1865 Intell. Observ. No. 36. 419 By the time I had started my fire. 1885 Law Times Rep. LIII. 52/1 The small quantity of..black smoke necessary to start the fires. 1901 Daily Express 28 Feb. 5/1 The private member..started the ball rolling by attacking the government [etc.]. 1910 Marine Oil Engine Handbk. 14 It is possible to start up from cold on petrol. Ibid. 57 There is little difficulty about starting up small engines. 1945 C. S. Lewis That Hideous Strength xiv. 383 He started his engine up and they drove away. 1979 D. Clark Heberden's Seat i. 8 A car with a set of jump leads to start me up would do it.

    d. To set (a person) going in conversation, to induce to begin to talk on some subject.

1877 Mrs. Argles Phyllis xx, I would back mamma, once started, to hold her own against any of those Billingsgate ladies one hears of. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate ii, Miss Riddell,..by a judicious question or two, started the old gentleman on one of his favorite topics.

    e. To set on foot (an institution), establish. Also, to set up a business (occas. absol.). Cf. sense 12 c.

1859 Lever Dav. Dunn lxxvi. 669 What a head it must have been that..started companies, opened banks, worked mines, [etc.]. 1864 Sat. Rev. 27 Aug. 257/1 The list of possible religions is closed in France, and no one is permitted to start a new one. 1874 R. Tyrwhitt Sketch Club 2 Nothing is easier than to start an art-club. 1884 E. Yates Recoll. II. 322 You don't mean to say..that you actually mean to start a paper of the kind set forth? 1974 McArthur & Atkins Dict. Eng. Phrasal Verbs & their Idioms 215 He has started up a new business. 1975 Cowie & Mackin Oxf. Dict. Current Idiomatic Eng. I. 305/2 He started up a successful car hire firm. Ibid., They were thinking of starting up in the fruit and vegetable trade.

    f. To begin to keep as part of one's establishment; to ‘set up’ (e.g. a horse, a carriage).

1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles viii. 78 His wife suggested he should forthwith start a horse and very genteel cart. 1866 A. Thomas Walter Goring I. xvii. 251, I often thought it a pity that your uncle did not keep up the kennels..I wish you'd start them again! 1873 Black Pr. Thule xxv. 415 He is sure to start a yacht for one thing.

    g. To conceive (a baby), to succeed in conceiving (a child). Also, to start a family.

1931 N. Mitchison Corn King & Spring Queen iii. vii. 306 She wanted to start another baby at once, but he was very anxious that she should be as strong and well as possible at Plowing Eve. 1934 H. G. Wells Exper. Autobiogr. II. viii. 638 We were now justified in starting a family. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart i. i. 24 Irene had started Portia. 1956 Mademoiselle Sept. 185/1 After the apple farm was started we were going to start a child. 1973 G. Greene Honorary Consul. ii. iii. 96 ‘He wanted to marry... And if there's a child—’ ‘Have you started one?’ ‘No.’ 1975 M. Babson There must be some Mistake xiv. 107 We would have married immediately, perhaps have started a family. 1977 Listener 25 Aug. 227/1 When a couple have become used to a two-wage standard of living, how do they give it up to start a family?

    h. To begin to suffer from or succumb to an illness, esp. a cold.

1932 E. M. Delafield Thank Heaven Fasting i. i. 14, I think Cecily's starting a cold. 1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Saturday xi. 68 The very sight of her streaming face..had made him feel that at any minute he would start a cold too. 1958 P. Kemp No Colours or Crest vii. 147 He himself was recovering from the malaria he had started at Arborie, but was still very weak.

    24. a. To begin (some action or operation). Often with obj. a gerund; also with infinitive. Also said of a thing.

1833 Newman Lett. (1891) I. 434, I had before this written to Rose how we had best start agitating. 1873 Black Pr. Thule i. 10 The young fellow..started another ballad. 1884 Manch. Exam. 20 May 5/2 He started business on a capital which he would now-a-days consider ridiculously small. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 181 There would be no chance of crossing it [the river] for some days.., even if it started to go down at once. 1902 W. W. Jacobs Lady of Barge (1908) 10 Miss Harris..waved the amorous Ted on deck, and started work on her disarranged hair. 1914 R. Curle Life a Dream 256 It was most unfortunate that at that instant the outer door bell of his flat should start ringing.

    b. Phr. to start something: to cause some trouble, agitation, etc. colloq. (orig. U.S.).

1917 U. Sinclair King Coal 78 Either the man was an agitator, seeking to ‘start something’, or else he was a detective sent in by the company. 1917 Wodehouse Uneasy Money xvi. 179 You certainly did the wrong thing. You started something! 1924 E. O'Neill Welded i. 97 We're not ‘starting something’ now, are we—after our promise? 1943 F. J. Bell Condition Red 59 The Japs..slunk by without starting anything.

    † 25. ? To provide, supply. Obs.

1826 H. N. Coleridge Six Months W. Indies 27 They start you an exquisite luncheon..at each [country residence].

    26. slang. (See quot.)

1825 Gentl. Mag. XCV. i. 397, ‘I started him.’ To start is to apply a smart word to an idle or forgetful person.

    † 27. Naut. To flog with a rope's end. Obs.

[1801: see starting vbl. n. 1.] 1813 Sir F. Burdett in Hansard's Parl. Deb. XXV. 390 To..make him sweep the ship, and if he did not, to get him well started (beaten with a rope's end). 1824 Ann. Reg., Chron. 33 The charge of severely starting marines and seamen, and flogging others on their breech. 1836 ‘Jack Nasty-face’ Naut. Econ. 119 Upwards of three hundred men had been flogged or started.

    III. 28. The verb-stem in combination: start-away, † (a) a renegade, deserter (obs.); (b) a starting away, sudden deviation from a course; start-back, † (a) a deserter (obs.); (b) an act of starting back; start-stop, used attrib. with reference to an electric telegraph system in which each group of elements transmitted is respectively begun and ended with signals activating and deactivating the receiving mechanism.

1578 Timme Calvin on Gen. xv. 318 Being degenerate and *start-awayes from the faith of their fathers. 1840 Browning Sordello iii. 632 Some slight weariness, some looking-off Or start-away.

1600 Holland Livy xxiii. xviii. 486 These *start-backs had no other place of haunt to lurke in, but Capua. 1626 Bacon Sylva §179 So we see in Strings; the more they are wound vp, and strained; (And thereby giue a more quicke Start-backe;) the more Treble is the Sound.

1922 Electrician 8 Sept. 265/2 The teletype..is a ‘*start⁓stop’ printer. 1937 Sci. Abstr. B. XL. 48 A machine for correcting start-stop 5-unit signals. 1974 R. N. Renton Internat. Telex Service iii. 12/2 In the start-stop system, although the driving motors may be running, the sending and receiving devices are normally held at rest in a zero⁓phase position.

    Hence ˈstarted, ppl. a., in senses of the verb; also with adv. as started-up.

1646 Crashaw Steps to Temple 43 Why blusht the day? Why ran the started aire trembling away? 1679 Longueville in Hatton Corr. (Camden) I. 181 This new started question about their Speaker. 1764 H. Walpole Otranto iv. (1765) 166 Whoever weds Isabella, it shall not be Father Falconara's started up son. They start up, said the Friar, who are suddenly beheld in the seat of lawful Princes. 1902 S. Sheldon & H. Mason Altern.-Current Machines 23 Magnetic Energy of a Started Current.

Oxford English Dictionary