FALSE START Definition & Meaning

false start

noun

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.
a failure to begin an undertaking successfully.

false-start

[ fawls-stahrt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used without object)

Sports.

to leave the starting line or position too early and thereby necessitate repeating the signal to begin a race.

Discover More

51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of false start¹

First recorded in 1805–15

Origin of false start²

First recorded in 1805–15

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

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]

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

But despite playing his part in Team GB's 4x100m relay bronze at Paris 2024 last summer, Azu has since described the experience of his first Olympic Games as "bittersweet" after he was disqualified from the individual event for a false start.

From

Dutifully, fill-in Max Mitchell checked the box with a false start just before the two-minute warning.

From

Matavao, right tackle Garrett DiGiorgio and left tackle Yutaka Mahe each were called for a false start on UCLA’s opening drive.

From

He was penalised for a false start, after lining up well forward of his grid slot, and then damaged his car in an incident with RB's Liam Lawson in Turn Four.

From

Solanke suffered an early injury which gave him a false start at Spurs, but three goals in three games, and his outstanding all-round display at Old Trafford, justified Postecoglou's faith and served to revive his England career.

From

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Browse