Part 749

Dryden.

2. A convulsive motion, twitch, or spasm; a spasmodic effort.

For she did speak in starts distractedly.

Shak.

Nature does nothing by starts and leaps, or in a hurry.

L'Estrange.

3. A sudden, unexpected movement; a sudden and capricious impulse; a sally; as, starts of fancy.

To check the starts and sallies of the soul.

Addison.

4. The beginning, as of a journey or a course of action; first motion from a place; act of setting out; the outset; -- opposed to finish.

The start of first performance is all.

Bacon.

I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start.

Shak.

At a start, at once; in an instant. [Obs.]

At a start he was betwixt them two.

Chaucer.

To get, or have, the start, to before another; to gain or have the advantage in a similar undertaking; -- usually with of. "Get the start of the majestic world." Shak. "She might have forsaken him if he had not got the start of her." Dryden.

Start, n. [OE. stert a tail, AS. steort; akin to LG. stert, steert, D. staart, G. sterz, Icel. stertr, Dan. stiert, Sw. stjert. √166. Cf. Stark naked, under Stark, Start, v. i.] 1. A tail, or anything projecting like a tail.

2. The handle, or tail, of a plow; also, any long handle. [Prov. Eng.]

3. The curved or inclined front and bottom of a water-wheel bucket.

4. (Mining) The arm, or level, of a gin, drawn around by a horse.

Start"er, n. 1. One who, or that which, starts; as, a starter on a journey; the starter of a race.

2. A dog that rouses game.

Start"ful (?), a. Apt to start; skittish. [R.]

Start"ful*ness, n. Aptness to start. [R.]

Star"throat` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any humming bird of the genus Heliomaster. The feathers of the throat have a brilliant metallic luster.

Start"ing (?), a. & n. from Start, v.