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

Other American start-ups, such as Synchron and Paradromics, are developing their own BCIs and are also running ongoing trials. —Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2026

In a new New York Times Magazine article, author Clive Thompson interviewed more than 70 software developers at Google, Amazon, Microsoft and small start-ups to explore how rapidly improving AI coding tools such as ChatGPT and Claude are reshaping the software development profession. —Sharon Goldman, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2026

Communities with futuristic dispensaries and start-up athleisure. —Xuan Juliana Wang, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2026

The mania has also sucked talent into the industry and birthed an explosion of start-ups experimenting with new approaches to building the technology. —Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 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