51Թ

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false start

1

noun

  1. 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.

  2. a failure to begin an undertaking successfully.



false-start

2

[fawls-stahrt]

verb (used without object)

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

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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of false start1

First recorded in 1805–15

Origin of false start2

First recorded in 1805–15
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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]
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The brave new era has been a false start, despite three wins against modest opposition, and even Tuchel must have been shocked to experience the hostility aimed in his and his team's direction by those fans who remained inside the City Ground at the end of this 3-1 loss.

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Lando Norris moved up from sixth on the grid to third on the first lap in Bahrain and was given a five-second penalty for a false start.

From

For someone whose name translates to 'desire gifted' in English, the 19-year-old has shown vast quantities of both since putting that false start behind him in spectacular fashion.

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Norris, fighting back from sixth on the grid and a five-second penalty for a false start, had a chance to pass Russell going into the final lap, but could not make it work.

From

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.

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