Emily Dickinson Lexicon

START, n.¹

1. A sudden motion of the body; a sudden twitch; a spastic affection; as, a start in sleep.
2. A sudden motion from alarm. The fright awaken'd Arcite with a start. – Dryden.
3. A sudden rousing to action; a spring; excitement. Now fear I this will give it start again. – Shak.
4. Sally; sudden motion or effusion; a bursting forth; as, starts of fancy. To check the starts and sallies of the soul. – Addison.
5. Sudden fit; sudden motion followed by intermission. For she did speak in starts distractedly. – Shak. Nature does nothing by starts and leaps, or in a hurry. – L'Estrange.
6. A quick spring; a darting; a shoot; a push; as, to give a start. Both cause the string to give a quicker start. – Bacon.
7. First motion from a place; act of setting out. The start of first performance is all. – Bacon. You stand like greyhounds in the slips, / Straining upon the start. – Shak. To get the start, to begin before another; to gain the advantage in a similar undertaking. Get the start of the majestic world. – Shak. She might have forsaken him, if he had not got the start of her. – Dryden.