head start

noun

1

: an advantage granted or achieved at the beginning of a race, a chase, or a competition

a 10-minute head start

2

: a favorable or promising beginning

Examples of head start in a Sentence

They gave me a five-minute head start.

She took some extra classes to get a head start in her career.

His natural athletic talent gave him a head start on his peers.

Recent Examples on the Web

Even with that enormous head start, decoding the script still took two decades. —Sam Kean, The Atlantic, 26 May 2025

To retail and financial services firms, every week’s head start in accelerated delivery translates to millions in market opportunity seized. —Sai Sandeep Ogety, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025

White shark migrating north ‘getting a head start’ on shark season Go Slow! —Rick Sobey, Hartford Courant, 22 May 2025

Unlike the sound of a car door slamming or the jingle of house keys, the Life360 alert happens earlier, giving four-legged companions a head start to get excited before their favorite human walks through the door. —Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for head start

• apart
• depart
• flowchart
• forepart
• impart
• pushcart
• rampart
• redstart
• restart
• subpart
• sweetheart
• upstart

Kids Definition

head start

noun

1

: an advantage given to a contestant at the beginning of a race

a five-minute head start

2

: a favorable or promising beginning