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

took some extra classes to get a head start in college

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

The plan delivers faster, more reliable service through new busways and bus lanes along 50 key corridors, traffic signals that give buses a head start, and more efficient boarding. — Mike Flynn, New York Daily News, 9 July 2026

The head start that the US companies enjoyed in the AI race is quickly vanishing. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 9 July 2026

While Waymo has a big head start in the market, Tesla and Zoox are both slowly pushing into new cities. — Jennifer Elias, CNBC, 8 July 2026

So learn to love it and use it to help people to see the constraint as something amazing and beneficial like free filtering, a gift of what not to do, or even a head start, not a smaller box to play in. — Nir Bashan, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026

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