5. Etym: [Perh. from D. storten, which has this meaning also.] (Naut.)
Defn: To pour out; to empty; to tap and begin drawing from; as, to start a water cask.
START
Start, n.
1. The act of starting; a sudden spring, leap, or motion, caused by surprise, fear, pain, or the like; any sudden motion, or beginning of motion. The fright awakened Arcite with a start. 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 Start, n. Etym: [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.]