Word.ws English Dictionary

started

UK/ˈstɑːtɪd/[ˈstɑɹɾɪd]

started is the simple past and past participle of start.

Meaning of start

Verb

start (third-person singular simple present starts, present participle starting, simple past and past participle started)

  1. (ergative) To set in motion.
    • to start a stream of water; to start a rumour; to start a business
  2. (ergative) To begin.
    • The President fired the gun to start the footrace.
  3. (ergative) To ready the operation of a vehicle or machine.
    • to start the engine
  4. (ergative) To put or raise (a question, an objection); to put forward (a subject for discussion).
  5. (ergative) To bring onto being or into view; to originate; to invent.
    • Sensual men agree in the pursuit of every pleasure they can start.1674, William Temple, letter to The Countess of Essex
  6. (intransitive) To have its origin (at), begin.
    • The speed limit is 50 km/h, starting at the edge of town.

See all 29 meanings of start

Phrases with started

22 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about started

What is started the simple past and past participle of?
Started is the simple past and past participle of start.
How do you pronounce started?
Started is pronounced [ˈstɑɹɾɪd] (US).

Words near started in the dictionary

  1. start-up
  2. start-ups
  3. startable
  4. startbox
  5. startboxes
  6. started
  7. started a family
  8. started a fresh hare
  9. started a hare
  10. started a hare running
  11. started afresh

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: started (page history and authors); start (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-started.ogg.

Cite this entry: “started.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/started. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.