start-up

noun

ˈstärt-ˌəp 

variants or startup

often attributive

1

: the act or an instance of setting in operation or motion

2

: a fledgling business enterprise

Examples of start-up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

UConn School of Medicine physician-scientists have partnered with a precision medicine start-up company to explore treatments for pancreatic cancer that could be a game changer. — Pamela McLoughlin, Hartford Courant, 19 Aug. 2026

Again following the lead of EV start-ups such as Tesla and Rivian, legacy automakers are shifting from these ad hoc, tiny control units to one or two big computers that run all of the software in their vehicles—and, in turn, require much more RAM. — Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2026

Rivals such as Canada’s Spacedrive, which has previously raised $2 million of funding, and San Francisco peer Byteport, a Y Combinator backed start-up, are exploring their own solutions to the file sharing and access challenge. — David Prosser, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

These critical tests included the non-nuclear start-up of the massive steam turbine and main pump coastdown evaluations. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 18 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for start-up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup