start off

phrasal verb

started off; starting off; starts off

1

: to start or cause (something) to start in a specified way

He started off by introducing himself.

She started off (her run) at a slow jog.

The performance started off badly.

—often + with

I started off my speech with a joke.

We started off the meal with shrimp cocktails.

The team started the season off with a 10-game winning streak.

2

: to have a specified quality, identity, job, etc., at the start

She started off as a sales assistant but is now the marketing director.

3

: to begin an important period in one's life or career

The house is perfect for a couple just starting off.

4

: to begin to move toward a particular place or in a particular direction

She ate breakfast before starting off for work.

5

: to cause (someone) to begin doing a particular activity or action

He started his daughter off on the piano.

The game-show host started her off with some easy questions.

Examples of start off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This week starts off with energy that could bring shocking twists of fate and sudden surprises. —Kyle Thomas, Peoplemag, 12 May 2024

Peacemaker actor Steve Agee started off the show’s stand-up sets before a song break from America’s Got Talent contestant Puddles Pity Party. —Nicole Fell, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 May 2024

With just $100 to her name, Dr. Huma started off on a decade-long journey to change medicine which would lead her from her home country of Pakistan to the United States. —Hilary Tetenbaum, USA TODAY, 10 May 2024

The discriminator may start off with a different distribution. —Steve Nadis, Quanta Magazine, 9 May 2024

Venus likely started off with the same amount of water as Earth, but today the hellish world has 100,000 times less water than its sister planet Around 4.5 billion years ago, Earth and Venus were born in the midst of a chaotic star system. —Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 8 May 2024

For restoration projects, Sequoia starts off by including a full copy of SpectraLayers Pro, which visualizes the frequency spectrum of audio content and displays it in layers. —PCMAG, 30 Apr. 2024

But the quarter wasn’t without its hiccups Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America reported their first-quarter earnings to start off a new week. —Rocio Fabbro, Quartz, 16 Apr. 2024

To wash off tubing mascara, start off by using warm water or micellar water. —Bianca Lambert, Glamour, 16 Apr. 2024