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, foundRelated 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, relaunchNear Antonyms abolish, annihilate, annul, nullify; end, finish, halt, stop, terminate; round (off or out), wind up, wrap upAntonyms 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, activate, touch off, trigger, turn onRelated 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 upNear Antonyms arrest, brake, check, cut off, draw up, halt, jam, stall, stick, stop; decelerate, repress, slow, stunt, suppressAntonyms 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, beginRelated Words be, breathe, exist, live, subsist; arrive, come on, emerge; coalesce, cohere, shape (up); continue, endure, last, persist, surviveNear Antonyms conclude, desist, discontinue, finish, halt, quit, terminate; disappear, dissolve, evaporate, vanish; depart, die, expire, pass away, perishAntonyms 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, bulge, stick out, swellRelated Words dome; blow up, inflate; dilate, distend, expand; mushroom, snowball; elongate, extend, lengthen, stretchNear 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, begin, 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 outAntonyms conclude, end, finish, terminate