start

start

verb

Definition of START

1

to move suddenly and sharply (as in surprise) <I started from my chair when I heard the sudden scream>

Synonyms bolt, jump, startle

Related Words jerk, jolt, twitch; blench, cringe, flinch, quail, recoil, shrink, spook, squinch, wince; bound, leap, spring; react, respond

2

to be responsible for the creation and early operation or use of <started the impressionist movement in art>

Synonyms begin, constitute, establish, inaugurate, initiate, innovate, institute, introduce, launch, pioneer, plant, set up, start

Related Words author, father, originate; conceive, concoct, contrive, cook (up), create, devise, fabricate, invent, make up, manufacture, produce, think (up); construct, put up; develop, enlarge, expand; endow, finance, fund, subsidize; arrange, organize, systematize, systemize; refound, reinitiate, reinstitute, relaunch

Near Antonyms abolish, annihilate, annul, nullify; end, finish, halt, stop, terminate; round (off or out), wind up, wrap up

Antonyms close (down), phase out, shut (up)

3

to cause to function <trying to start the car on a frigid morning>

Synonyms actuate, crank (up), drive, move, run, set off, spark, start, touch off, trigger, turn on

Related Words kick over, turn over; charge, electrify, energize, fire, fuel, generate, power, push; discharge, launch, release, switch, trip; reactivate, recharge; arouse, excite, jump-start, kick-start, stimulate, vitalize; ignite, incite, instigate, provoke, quicken, stir up; accelerate, catalyze, speed (up), step up

Near Antonyms arrest, brake, check, cut off, draw up, halt, jam, stall, stick, stop; decelerate, repress, slow, stunt, suppress

Antonyms cut, cut out, deactivate, kill, shut off, turn off

4

to come into existence <the fight started when one child tripped the other>

Synonyms actualize, appear, arise, break, commence, dawn, engender, form, materialize, originate, set in, spring, start

Related Words be, breathe, exist, live, subsist; arrive, come on, emerge; coalesce, cohere, shape (up); continue, endure, last, persist, survive

Near Antonyms conclude, desist, discontinue, finish, halt, quit, terminate; disappear, dissolve, evaporate, vanish; depart, die, expire, pass away, perish

Antonyms cease, end, stop

5

to extend outward beyond a usual point <frightened horses with starting eyes>

Synonyms bag, balloon, beetle, belly, billow, bunch, jut, overhang, poke, pooch [chiefly dialect], pouch, pout, project, protrude, stand out, start, stick out, swell

Related Words dome; blow up, inflate; dilate, distend, expand; mushroom, snowball; elongate, extend, lengthen, stretch

Near Antonyms compress, condense, constrict, contract, shrink

6

to take the first step in (a process or course of action) <we'll be ready to start the concert in a moment>

Synonyms commence, embark (on or upon), enter (into or upon), fall (to), get off, kick off, launch, lead off, open, start, strike (into)

Related Words create, generate, inaugurate, initiate, innovate, invent, originate; adopt, embrace, take on, take up; establish, father, found, institute, organize, pioneer, set up, spawn; get around (to), get down (to), get round (to)

Near Antonyms cease, desist, discontinue, halt, knock off, lay off, quit, stop; close, complete; abandon, forsake, leave; abolish, demolish, destroy, exterminate, extinguish, phase out

Antonyms conclude, end, finish, terminate