Meanings
plural flying starts
- idiomaticAn especially good start.
The new restaurant got off to a flying start, packing out every night.
2 more examples
He puts the brakes on here and there down the next four miles of curves, but then opens her out so that she rocks and rolls through Totnes at a mile a minute for a flying start on the worst bank of the whole trip, five steep miles up to Rattery Box and four not so steep past Brent up to Wrangaton.
1956 February, W. A. Tuplin, “Hot Work on a "Star"”, in Railway Magazine, page 90And six minutes in they should have got off to a flying start. Aluko caused the damage. The winger slipped away from Ledley then stood up a cross to the back post which seemed perfect for Lee Wallace charging in.
2011 December 29, Keith Jackson, “SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0”, in Daily Record - The start of a sports event in which the competitors are moving at full speed when they pass the starting line or initial jump point.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna racing start in which the contestants are already in full motion when they pass the starting line
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From sailboat races, where the ships should be 'flying' under full sail as they cross the starting line.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish lentävä lähtö
- lentävä lähtöan especially good start
French sur les chapeaux de roue
- sur les chapeaux de rouean especially good start
Polish start z wysokiego
- start z wysokiegoan especially good start
Swedish rivstart
- rivstartan especially good start
Cite this entry
flying start. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flying%20start
“flying start.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flying%20start. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “flying start,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flying%20start.
Source: flying start on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.