Nearby Words
false start
false start
noun
1.
Sports. a premature start by one or more of the contestants, as in a swimming or track event, necessitating calling the field back to start again.
2.
a failure to begin an undertaking successfully.
Origin:
1805–15
1805–15
00:10
00:09
00:08
00:07
00:06
00:05
00:04
00:03
00:02
00:01
False start
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To false start
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
false start
A wrong beginning, as in After several false starts she finally managed to write the first chapter. The term originated in racing, where it refers to beginning a race before the starting signal has been given. The expression was soon transferred to other kinds of failed beginning. [Early 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo Rating For False start
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
