Meanings
plural false starts
- hobbiesThe act of an athlete starting a race before being signaled to do so.
Synonyms: jump-start, flyer
- American footballThe act of an offensive player moving across the line of scrimmage prior to the snap.
- An attempt at something that does not work, requiring one to start over.
After a "false start" that was too vigorous, overloading the motors, No. D171 made a very successful unassisted run from Tyne Dock to Consett.
1962 December, “Motive Power Miscellany: North Eastern Region”, in Modern Railways, page 4221 more example
He spent nearly 20 years developing the movie, keeping at it through false starts and heartbreaking dead ends. And when he got the chance to make it, he went all in, devising entire societies full of baroquely souped-up death machines and screaming war-cults.
2017 December 1, Tom Breihan, “Mad Max: Fury Road might already be the best action movie ever made”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2018
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe act of an athlete starting a race before being signaled to do so.
Translations
Catalan sortida falsa
- sortida falsastarting before the signal
Chinese Mandarin 假起動 /假起动, 搶跑 /抢跑
- 假起動 /假起动 (jiǎ qǐdòng)starting before the signal
- 搶跑 /抢跑 (qiǎngpǎo)starting before the signal
Finnish varaslähtö
- varaslähtöstarting before the signal
French faux départ
- faux départstarting before the signal
German Fehlstart
- Fehlstartstarting before the signal
Icelandic þjófstart
- þjófstartstarting before the signal
Italian falsa partenza
- falsa partenzastarting before the signal
Japanese フライング, 不正スタート
- フライング (furaingu)starting before the signal
- 不正スタート (fusei sutāto)starting before the signal
Norwegian tjuvstart
- tjuvstartstarting before the signal
Polish falstart
- falstartstarting before the signal
Russian фальста́рт
- фальста́рт (falʹstárt)starting before the signal
Spanish salida en falso, salida nula
- salida en falsostarting before the signal
- salida nulastarting before the signal
Swedish tjuvstart
- tjuvstartstarting before the signal
Cite this entry
false start. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20start
“false start.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20start. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “false start,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20start.
Source: false start on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.