start
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
How often you will meet it
Rank 932 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 19,750 times across 175,113 chapters — 0.009% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 1,000 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
verb
- take the first step or steps in carrying out an action also: get down, begin, get, start out, set about, set out We began working at dawnWho will start?
- set in motion, cause to start also: begin, lead off, commence The U.S. started a war in the Middle EastThe Iraqis began hostilities
- leave also: depart, part, start out, set forth, set off, set out The family took off for Florida
- have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense also: begin The DMZ begins right over the hillThe second movement begins after the Allegro
- bring into being also: originate, initiate He initiated a new programStart a foundation
- get off the ground also: start up, embark on, commence Who started this company?We embarked on an exciting enterprise
start in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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Thou needna start awa’ sae hasty, Wi’ bickering brattle!
Poems Every Child Should Know · Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth) [Editor] Burt · Chapter 1
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How like quivering flames they start, When I fan the living embers On the hearth-stone of my heart!
The Complete Poetical Works of Henry · Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Chapter 1
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Immediately, when this stronger influence was felt, the drivers zigzagged back up stream to start a fresh batch.
The Riverman · Stewart Edward White · Chapter 1
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That’s something to start with, and may enable me to verify my suspicions, should any occur to my mind.
Other People's Money · Emile Gaboriau · Chapter 1
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He ate his breakfast, and waited until the birds should start, but they did not leave the place all day.
The Yellow Fairy Book: The Grateful Beasts · World Traditions (Celtic, Norse, Asian & Persian) · Chapter 1