start off

verb

started off; starting off; starts off

1

: to start or cause (something) to start in a specified way

He started off by introducing himself.

She started off (her run) at a slow jog.

The performance started off badly.

—often + with

I started off my speech with a joke.

We started off the meal with shrimp cocktails.

The team started the season off with a 10-game winning streak.

2

: to have a specified quality, identity, job, etc., at the start

She started off as a sales assistant but is now the marketing director.

3

: to begin an important period in one's life or career

The house is perfect for a couple just starting off.

4

: to begin to move toward a particular place or in a particular direction

She ate breakfast before starting off for work.

5

: to cause (someone) to begin doing a particular activity or action

He started his daughter off on the piano.

The game-show host started her off with some easy questions.

Examples of start off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Joe and Nathan’s doomed bromance started off tense, got better over time, and worsened again once Joe found another bro to romance with. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2026

The agent had been tasked with identifying the author of a blog post, and was given a set of clues to start off its research. — Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 27 Sep. 2026

However, Aaron Boone isn’t underestimating a Boston ballclub that started off slow and fired Alex Cora before going on a historic run and earning the second Wild Card spot. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 27 Sep. 2026

In contrast, white table sugar starts off as juice from sugar beet or sugarcane plants. — Carley Millhone, HEALTH, 25 Sep. 2026

Rhymes for start off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff