flying start

noun

1
: a start in racing in which the participants are already moving when they cross the starting line or receive the starting signal
2
: a favorable start of something

Examples of flying start in a Sentence

The meeting got off to a flying start. The restaurant made a flying start by filling up on opening night.
Recent Examples on the Web Jace Stuckey, Triton Central: The senior quarterback and Eastern Michigan commit got off to a flying start by completing 16-for-21 through the air for 415 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-13 win over Cascade. Kyle Neddenriep, The Indianapolis Star, 21 Aug. 2023 That said, Threads is off to a flying start elsewhere, having already amassed over 30 million users. David Meyer, Fortune, 6 July 2023 The huge appeal of Glastonbury did not prevent London’s biggest festival getting off to a flying start over the same weekend. Mark Sutherland, Variety, 3 July 2023 To start with, the big banks got the year off to a flying start, with very strong results for those banks with big retail businesses. Q.ai - Powering A Personal Wealth Movement, Forbes, 5 May 2023 Sophomore Isabela Teixeira took second place in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles, and was a part of the first-place 200-yard medley relay (with senior Emma Lent and classmates Caroline Tyrell and Katie Baxter) that got the Revolution off to a flying start with a 1:51.94 time. Aj Traub, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Nov. 2022 But challenges have prevented the railway from making a flying start with tourists. Duncan Forgan, CNN, 8 Nov. 2022 Just because shortstop Jordan Westburg hasn’t been off to a flying start in Bowie doesn’t take away from the season he’s put together in his first full year of professional baseball. Jon Meoli, baltimoresun.com, 31 Aug. 2021 Initially invite-only, Cache Cache was off to a flying start in February 2020, hosting everyone from footballers to Formula One drivers. Lela London, Forbes, 11 July 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flying start.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of flying start was in 1851

Dictionary Entries Near flying start

Cite this Entry

“Flying start.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flying%20start. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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