prestart

P3R1E1S1T1A1R1T1

adjective

Prior to the beginning of a race

OriginEnglish start ← Middle English pre- ← Latin prae- →
Scrabble 10
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectiveprestart (not comparable)
  1. not comparablechiefly yachtingPrior to the beginning of a race

    BMW Oracle Racing seemed to have the prestart advantage after its skipper, Chris Dickson, locked the Kiwis out in front of the line[…].

    2007 April 29, Agence France-Presse, “Oracle Loses for First Time but Finishes Round With Lead”, in New York Times
nounprestart (plural prestarts)

plural prestarts

  1. yachtingThe countdown immediately before the start of a race.

    The Swiss, whose only Swiss crew member is the owner Ernesto Bertarelli, have even maintained contact in the past month with the big moment approaching, practicing prestarts with Desafío Español and organizing training races with Luna Rossa Challenge.

    2007 June 23, Christopher Clarey, “Breaking From Tradition in the America’s Cup”, in New York Times

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*prai-
  6. Latinprae-
  7. Middle Englishpre-
  8. Englishpre-
  9. Englishstart
  10. Englishprestart

From pre- + start.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Terpstraspratter
Cite this entry
APA

prestart. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prestart

MLA

“prestart.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prestart. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prestart,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prestart.

Source: prestart on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.