The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

start \start\ (st[aum]rt), v. i. [imp. & p. p. started; p. pr.
   & vb. n. starting.] [OE. sterten; akin to D. storten to
   hurl, rush, fall, G. st["u]rzen, OHG. sturzen to turn over,
   to fall, Sw. st["o]rta to cast down, to fall, Dan. styrte,
   and probably also to E. start a tail; the original sense
   being, perhaps, to show the tail, to tumble over suddenly.
   [root]166. Cf. Start a tail.]
   1. To leap; to jump. [Obs.]
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   2. To move suddenly, as with a spring or leap, from surprise,
      pain, or other sudden feeling or emotion, or by a
      voluntary act.
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            And maketh him out of his sleep to start. --Chaucer.
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            I start as from some dreadful dream.  --Dryden.
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            Keep your soul to the work when ready to start
            aside.                                --I. Watts.
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            But if he start,
            It is the flesh of a corrupted heart. --Shak.
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   3. To set out; to commence a course, as a race or journey; to
      begin; as, to start in business.
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            At once they start, advancing in a line. --Dryden.
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            At intervals some bird from out the brakes
            Starts into voice a moment, then is still. --Byron.
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   4. To become somewhat displaced or loosened; as, a rivet or a
      seam may start under strain or pressure.
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   To start after, to set out after; to follow; to pursue.

   To start against, to act as a rival candidate against.

   To start for, to be a candidate for, as an office.

   To start up, to rise suddenly, as from a seat or couch; to
      come suddenly into notice or importance.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Start \Start\, n. [OE. stert a tail, AS. steort; akin to LG.
   stert, steert, D. staart, G. sterz, Icel. stertr, Dan.
   stiert, Sw. stjert. [root]166. Cf. Stark naked, under
   Stark, Start, v. i.]
   1. A tail, or anything projecting like a tail.
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   2. The handle, or tail, of a plow; also, any long handle.
      [Prov. Eng.]
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   3. The curved or inclined front and bottom of a water-wheel
      bucket.
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   4. (Mining) The arm, or lever, of a gin, drawn around by a
      horse.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
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            The fright awakened Arcite with a start. --Dryden.
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   2. A convulsive motion, twitch, or spasm; a spasmodic effort.
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            For she did speak in starts distractedly. --Shak.
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            Nature does nothing by starts and leaps, or in a
            hurry.                                --L'Estrange.
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   3. A sudden, unexpected movement; a sudden and capricious
      impulse; a sally; as, starts of fancy.
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            To check the starts and sallies of the soul.
                                                  --Addison.
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   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.
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            The start of first performance is all. --Bacon.
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            I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
            Straining upon the start.             --Shak.
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   At a start, at once; in an instant. [Obs.]
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            At a start he was betwixt them two.   --Chaucer.
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   To get the start, or To have the start, to begin 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.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Start \Start\ (st[aum]rt), v. t.
   1. To cause to move suddenly; to disturb suddenly; to
      startle; to alarm; to rouse; to cause to flee or fly; as,
      the hounds started a fox.
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            Upon malicious bravery dost thou come
            To start my quiet?                    --Shak.
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            Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar.
                                                  --Shak.
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   2. To bring into being or into view; to originate; to invent.
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            Sensual men agree in the pursuit of every pleasure
            they can start.                       --Sir W.
                                                  Temple.
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   3. To cause to move or act; to set going, running, or
      flowing; as, to start a railway train; to start a mill; to
      start a stream of water; to start a rumor; to start a
      business.
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            I was engaged in conversation upon a subject which
            the people love to start in discourse. --Addison.
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   4. To move suddenly from its place or position; to displace
      or loosen; to dislocate; as, to start a bone; the storm
      started the bolts in the vessel.
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            One, by a fall in wrestling, started the end of the
            clavicle from the sternum.            --Wiseman.
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   5. [Perh. from D. storten, which has this meaning also.]
      (Naut.) To pour out; to empty; to tap and begin drawing
      from; as, to start a water cask.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

START \START\ (st[aum]rt), n. [From Strategic Arms Reduction
   Treaty.]
   A Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union which
   provided for stepwise reductions in the number of nuclear
   weapons possessed by each country.
   [PJC]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

start
    n 1: the beginning of anything; "it was off to a good start"
    2: the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got
       an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the
       man for her" [syn: beginning, commencement, first,
       outset, get-go, start, kickoff, starting time,
       showtime, offset] [ant: end, ending, middle]
    3: a turn to be a starter (in a game at the beginning); "he got
       his start because one of the regular pitchers was in the
       hospital"; "his starting meant that the coach thought he was
       one of their best linemen" [syn: start, starting]
    4: a sudden involuntary movement; "he awoke with a start" [syn:
       startle, jump, start]
    5: the act of starting something; "he was responsible for the
       beginning of negotiations" [syn: beginning, start,
       commencement] [ant: finish, finishing]
    6: a line indicating the location of the start of a race or a
       game [syn: start, starting line, scratch, scratch
       line]
    7: a signal to begin (as in a race); "the starting signal was a
       green light"; "the runners awaited the start" [syn: starting
       signal, start]
    8: the advantage gained by beginning early (as in a race); "with
       an hour's start he will be hard to catch" [syn: start,
       head start]
    v 1: take the first step or steps in carrying out an action; "We
         began working at dawn"; "Who will start?"; "Get working as
         soon as the sun rises!"; "The first tourists began to
         arrive in Cambodia"; "He began early in the day"; "Let's
         get down to work now" [syn: get down, begin, get,
         start out, start, set about, set out, commence]
         [ant: end, terminate]
    2: set in motion, cause to start; "The U.S. started a war in the
       Middle East"; "The Iraqis began hostilities"; "begin a new
       chapter in your life" [syn: begin, lead off, start,
       commence] [ant: end, terminate]
    3: leave; "The family took off for Florida" [syn: depart,
       part, start, start out, set forth, set off, set
       out, take off]
    4: have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative
       sense; "The DMZ begins right over the hill"; "The second
       movement begins after the Allegro"; "Prices for these homes
       start at $250,000" [syn: begin, start] [ant: cease,
       end, finish, stop, terminate]
    5: bring into being; "He initiated a new program"; "Start a
       foundation" [syn: originate, initiate, start]
    6: get off the ground; "Who started this company?"; "We embarked
       on an exciting enterprise"; "I start my day with a good
       breakfast"; "We began the new semester"; "The afternoon
       session begins at 4 PM"; "The blood shed started when the
       partisans launched a surprise attack" [syn: start, start
       up, embark on, commence]
    7: move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm; "She
       startled when I walked into the room" [syn: startle,
       jump, start]
    8: get going or set in motion; "We simply could not start the
       engine"; "start up the computer" [syn: start, start up]
       [ant: stop]
    9: begin or set in motion; "I start at eight in the morning";
       "Ready, set, go!" [syn: start, go, get going] [ant:
       halt, stop]
    10: begin work or acting in a certain capacity, office or job;
        "Take up a position"; "start a new job" [syn: start, take
        up]
    11: play in the starting lineup
    12: have a beginning characterized in some specified way; "The
        novel begins with a murder"; "My property begins with the
        three maple trees"; "Her day begins with a workout"; "The
        semester begins with a convocation ceremony" [syn: begin,
        start]
    13: begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or
        inherent function of the direct object; "begin a cigar";
        "She started the soup while it was still hot"; "We started
        physics in 10th grade" [syn: begin, start]
    14: bulge outward; "His eyes popped" [syn: start, protrude,
        pop, pop out, bulge, bulge out, bug out, come
        out]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

409 Moby Thesaurus words for "start":
   A, activate, advance, advantage, aid, allowance, alpha, arise,
   assistance, attack, avoid, backing, base, basis, be off,
   be startled, beat, beget, begin, beginning, beginnings, birth,
   blanch, blast away, blast off, blast-off, blench, blink, bob,
   boggle, bolt, border line, bounce, bound, boundary,
   boundary condition, boundary line, bourn, break, break boundary,
   break open, break up, breakoff point, bring before, bring forward,
   bring up, broach, buck, buckjump, bulge, bundle, bundle off, burst,
   capriole, carry away, ceiling, chance, chase, circumscription,
   clear, coign of vantage, come apart, come off, come undone,
   come unstuck, come up, commence, commencement,
   commend to attention, compass, confine, constitute, course, crack,
   crack up, create, creation, cringe, crop up, curvet, cutoff,
   cutoff point, cutting edge, dart, dawn, dawning, deadline,
   deadwood, delimitation, depart, determinant, develop, disintegrate,
   dive in, dive into, division line, dodge, dog, draw, draw back,
   drive, drop, duck, edge, embark, embark on, emerge, emergence,
   encouragement, end, enter, enter on, enter upon, establish,
   establishment, evade, extremity, fade, falcon, fall back, fall off,
   fall to, fall to pieces, father, fight shy, financing, finish,
   fissure, flick, flinch, flip, flirt, float, floor, flounce, flush,
   fly apart, flying start, follow the hounds, found, foundation,
   founding, fowl, fracture, fresh start, frontier, genesis, get busy,
   get going, get loose, get off, get to, get under way, get with it,
   give a start, give away, give birth to, give way, go, go ahead,
   go forth, go hunting, go to it, go to pieces, gun, handicap,
   hang back, hawk, head into, head start, hedge, help,
   high-water mark, hippety-hop, hit the road, hitch, hop, hop to it,
   hound, hunt, hunt down, hurdle, inaugurate, inauguration,
   inception, initiate, initiation, inside track, institute,
   institution, interface, introduce, issue, issue forth, jack,
   jacklight, jar, jerk, jib, jig, jiggle, jog, joggle, jolt, jump,
   jump a mile, jump off, jump over, jump to it, jump-off, kick off,
   kick-off, launch, launch into, lay before, lead, leading edge,
   leap, leap over, leapfrog, leave, light into, limen, limit,
   limitation, limiting factor, line, line of demarcation,
   line of departure, low-water mark, lower limit, make a motion,
   march, mark, mete, moot, move, negotiate, new departure, odds,
   offer a resolution, oncoming, onset, open, open up, opening,
   opportunity, organize, origin, originate, origination, outbreak,
   outset, outsetting, outstart, overjump, overleap, overskip, panic,
   peel off, pitch in, pitch into, pluck, plunge into,
   point of departure, port of embarkation, pose, postulate, pounce,
   pounce on, pounce upon, prefer, proceed, propose, proposition,
   propound, protrude, prowl after, pull back, put forth, put forward,
   put in motion, put it to, quail, recoil, recommend, reel back,
   retreat, ride to hounds, rise, run, running start, rupture,
   sail into, sally, sally forth, send, send forth, send off,
   send-off, set about, set afloat, set agoing, set at, set before,
   set forth, set forward, set going, set in, set in motion, set off,
   set on foot, set out, set sail, set to, set to work, set up,
   setoff, setout, setting in motion, setting-up, sheer off, shikar,
   shock, shoot, shrink, shrink back, shy, sidestep, skedaddle,
   ski jump, skip, snap, snatch, something extra,
   something in reserve, split, sponsorship, sport, spring,
   spring a leak, spring apart, square one, squinch, stalk, stampede,
   start aside, start back, start going, start in, start off,
   start out, start up, start-off, starting, starting gate,
   starting line, starting place, starting point, starting post,
   startle, steeplechase, stick out, still-hunt, strike out, submit,
   sudden pull, suggest, swerve, switch on, tackle, take off, take on,
   take up, take-off, takeoff, target date, term, terminal date,
   terminus, threshold, time allotment, track, trail, turn,
   turn aside, turn on, turn to, tweak, twitch, undertake, unravel,
   updive, upleap, upper hand, upper limit, upspring, vantage,
   vantage ground, vantage point, vault, wade into, weasel,
   weasel out, whip hand, wince, wrench, yank, yerk