non-ˈstarter
[non- 2.]
One who does not start something; esp. one who fails to start in a race or other contest; hence, a useless or ineffective person or thing; an impracticable idea.
| 1909 in Webster. 1932 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. July 31 Besides the 33 non-starters, only two made no attempt at this test. 1934 Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves ii. 27, I reminded myself that this non-starter and I had been at school together. 1942 ‘A. Bridge’ Frontier Passage iii. 49 That's one reason why non-intervention is such a non-starter. 1952 A. J. Ayer Philosophical Essays (1954) iii. 42 A statement..might be a non-starter, in the sense that the question of its truth or falsehood did not arise. 1973 C. Mullard Black Britain iii. ix. 109 People begin to dub the council a nonstarter. |