star-read 
.Kcyptian wlsards old, 
\vhk-h in Star-read were wont have best insight. 
> I . (J., V'., Prol. 
starred (stiinl), p. a. [< ME. sterred, stimili 
(also Httnied = D. gextariul, geitternd = OHG. 
gestirnot, MHG. gestirnet), starred; as star 1 + 
-erf 2 .] 1. Studded, decorated, or adorned with 
stars. 2. Influenced by the stars: usually in 
composition: as, \\\-nt(irretl. 
My third comfort, 
Starr'd most unluckily, is ... 
Haled out to murder. SAa*., W. T., ill. 2. 100. 
3. Cracked, with many rays proceeding from 
a central point : as, a starred pane of glass ; a 
starred mirror. 4. Marked or distinguished 
with a star or asterisk Starred corals, the Cary- 
ophyllidte. 
star-reed (star'red), . [Tr. Sp. bejuco de la 
estrella.'] A plant, Aristnlucliiii friit/rdiitissumi, 
highly esteemed in Peru as a remedy against 
dysentery, malignant inflammatory fevers, etc. 
Liitdln/. 
Starrifyt (star'i-fi), r. t. [< star* + -(-/#.] To 
mark with a star. Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's 
Weeks, ii., The Handy-Crafts. [Rare.] 
starriness (star'i-nes), . The state of being 
starry. 
star-rowel (star'rou"el), H. See rowel. 
Star-ruby (star'ro"bi), . A ruby exhibiting 
asterism, like the more common star-sapphire 
or asteria. 
starry (star'i), a. [< ME. sterry, sterri; < star 1 
+ -#!.] 1. Abounding with stars; adorned 
with stars. 
But see ! where Daphne wond'ring mounts on high, 
Above the clouds, above the starry sky ! 
Pope, Winter, 1. 70. 
2. Consisting of or proceeding from stars ; stel- 
lar; stellary: as, starry light; starry flame. 
The starry influences. Scott. 
3. Shining like stars; resembling stars: as 
and polished piece of the trunk of a petrified 
tree-fern. See Psaronins. 
Start 1 (stiirt), ?;. [E. dial, also xtrrt, start; < 
ME. startfii, xti'i-lt'ii, stirli-n, s/i/r/m (prcl. uti-i-li; 
slirti-. sliirlr, stmir, Ktrrl, later shirt, ]ip. sli rl. 
slh-t. y-stert), prob. < AS. "ntyrtan (not found) 
= MD. D. Ktortfii = MLd. stortni = OHG. sstiir- 
:ti, MH(i. G. Ktiirzen, fall, start, = Sw. xliirtti 
(Sw. dial, stjarta, run wildly about) = Dan. 
xti/rte, cast down, ruin, fall dead; root unknown. 
The explanation given by Skeat, that the word 
meant orig. ' turn tail,' or ' show the tail,' hence 
turn over suddenly, < AS. steort, etc., a tail (see 
start 2 ), is untenable. Hence Htartle.'] I. in- 
trans. 1. To move with a sudden involuntary 
jerk or twitch, as from a shock of surprise, 
fear, pain, or the like; give sudden involuntary 
expression to or indication of surprise, pain, 
fright, or any sudden emotion, by a quick con- 
vulsive movement of the body: as, he started 
at the sight. 
The sesoun priketh every gentil herte, 
And maketh him out of his slepe to sterte. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 186. 
He is now grown wondrous sad, weeps often too, 
Talks of his brother to himself, starts strangely. 
Fletcher, Mad Lover, v. 2. 
With trial fire touch me his finger-end ; 
. . . but if he start, 
It is the flesh of a corrupted heart. 
Shak., M. W. of W., v. 5. 90. 
2. To make a sudden or unexpected change of 
place or position; rise abruptly or quickly; 
spring ; leap, dart, or rush with sudden quick- 
ness : as, to start aside, backward, forward, out, 
or up; to start from one's seat. 
Up gtirte the pardoner and that anon. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 163. 
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres. 
Shak., Hamlet, I 5. 17. 
start 
3. To cause to set out, f,r to provide the means 
or take the steps nei-es-ary to enable (one) to 
set out or embark, as on an errand, a journey, 
enterprise, ciircer, etc.: as. to start one's son 
in business; to start a party on an expedition. 
4. To loosen, or cause to loosen or lose hold; 
cause to move from its place: as, to stnrt a 
plank; to start a tooth; to.s-/<i/-( an anchor. 5. 
To set flowing, as liquor from a cask; pour 
out: as, to stnrt wine into another cask. 6. 
To alarm ; disturb suddenly ; startle. 
You boggle shrewdly, every feather starts you. 
Shak., All's Well, V. 3. 232. 
The queen, being a little started hcreat, said, " A moi 
femme et parler ainsi ?" "To me a woman and say so?" 
Lord Herbert of Cheroury, Life (ed. Howells), p. 162. 
To start a butt. See im2. To start a tack or a sheet , 
to slack it off a little. To start a vessel from the 
Stump, to begin to build a vessel ; build an entirely new 
vessel, as distinguished from repairing an old one ; hence, 
to furnish or outfit a vessel completely. 
Start 1 (start), . [< ME. gtcrt : < xtarfl, f.] 1. 
A sudden involuntary spring, jerk, or twitch, 
such as may be caused by sudden surprise, 
fear, pain, or other emotion. 
The fright awaken'd Arcite with a start. 
Dryden, Pal. and Arc., i. 565. 
The exaggerated start it gives us to have an Insect un- 
expectedly pass over our skin or a cat noiselessly come 
and sniffle about our hand. W. James, Mind, XII. 189. 
2. A spring or recoil, as of an elastic body ; 
spring; jerk. 
In strings, the more they are wound up and strained, 
and thereby give a more quick start back, the more treble 
is the sound. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 1 179. 
3. A sudden burst or gleam; a sally ; a flash. 
To check the starts and sallies of the soul. 
Addiion, Cato, i. t. 
A certain gravity . . . much above the little gratifica- 
tion received from starts of humour and fancy. 
Steele, Tatler, No. 85. 
stars. 
The starry Galileo, with his woes. 
Byron, Childe Harold, iv. 54. 
Were 't not much trouble to your starry employments, 
I a poor mortal would entreat your furtherance 
In a terrestrial business. Tomkis (?), Albumazar, i. 5. 
Starry campion, a species of catch-fly, SUene stellata, 
found in the eastern United States. It has a slender stem 
3 feet high, leaves partly in whorls (whence the name), 
and a loose panicle of white flowers with a bell-shaped ca- 
lyx and fringed petals. Starry hummer, a humming- 
4. A sudden bound or stroke of action; a brief, 
For she did speak in starts distractedly. 
Shale., T. N., il. 2. 22. 
The Captain started up suddenly, his Hair standing at 
an End. Howell, Letters, I. iv. 28. 
o. oiliumir iiKe SLara; rcscuiuuiig ouaio. o, . . ^ * o*v*^*i .. - , -- , 
starru eyes 4 Stellate or stelliform; radi- 3. To set out; begin or enter upon action, impulsive, intermittent, or spasmodic effort 
ate; having parts radiately arranged. 5. Per- course, career, or pursuit, as a journey or a or movement; spasm: as, to work by fits and 
tainine to or in some way associated with the race. starts. 
J At once they start, advancing in aline. 
Dryden, JSneid, v. 183. 
All being ready, we started in a caique very early in 
the morning. R. Curzon, Monast. in the Levant, p. 204. 
4f. To run ; escape ; get away. 
Ac thre thynges ther beoth that doth a man to sterte 
Out of his owene hous as holy writ sheweth. 
Piers Plowman (C), xx. 297. 
When I have them, 
I'll place those guards upon them, that they start not. 
., __ B. Jonson, Catiline, iv. 6. 
bird of the genus Stellula, as S. calliope. Starry puff- _ _ . , , , . ivBwflv . RwprvR o s j,lp. be dis- 
balL Same as earth-star. Starry ray. See rayz. 5. lo lose hold, give way , swerve asiae, oe t 
star-sapphire (star'saf'ir), n. Same usasteri- located or moved from an intended position or 6 A gtart i n g O r setting out in some co 
i asteria. direction ; spring : as, the ship's timbers started. actlonj enterprise, or the like ; beginning ; 
The best bow may start, 
And the hand vary. 
B. Jonson, New Inn, ii. 2. 
6. To fall off or out ; loosen and come away, 
as the baleen of a dead whale through decom- 
ated sapphire (see sapphire) and aste 
star-saxifrage (stiir'sak"si-fraj), . A small 
saxifrage, Saxifraga stellaris, found northward 
in both hemispheres, having white starry flow- 
ers. 
star-scaled (star'skald), a. Having stellate 
All men have wandering impulses, fits and start* of gen- 
erosity. Emerson, Essays, 1st ser., p. 236. 
5. A sudden voluntary movement; a dash; a 
rush ; a run. 
When I commend you, you hug me for that truth ; when 
I sneak vour faults, you make a start, and fly the hearing. 
Beau, and Fl., King and No King, i. 1. 
"Shall I go for the police?" inquired Miss Jenny, with 
a nimble start toward the door. 
Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, iv. 8. 
course, 
_^ _________ ? ___ __ out- 
set; departure. 
You stand like greyhounds in the slips, 
Straining upon the start. Shak., Hen. V., iii. 1. 23. 
In the progress of social evolution new starts or varia- 
tions occur. MaudsUy, Body and Will, p. 150. 
at night. 
starshine (star'shin), n. The shine or light 
of stars; starlight. [Bare.] 
By star-shine and by moonlight. Tennyson, Oriana. 
star-shoot, star-shot (star'shot, star'shot), . 
A gelatinous substance often found in wet 
nportance. 
The mind very often sets itself on work in search of 
some hidden idea, . . . though sometimes too they start 
up in our minds of their own accord. 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. x. 7. 
(6) To begin operation or business : as, the factory will 
start up to-morrow. [Colloq.] 
II. trans. 1. To rouse suddenly into action, 
start in life. 
How much I had to do to calm his rage ! 
Now fear I this will give it start again. 
Shak., Hamlet, iv. 7.194. 
Who can but magnify the endeavours of Aristotle, and 
the noble start which learning had under him? 
Sir T. Browne, Christ. Mor., ii. 5. 
meadows, and formerly supposed to be the ex- mo tion, or flight, as a beast from its lair, a 9. A part that has started ; a loosened or broken 
tinquished residuum of a shooting-star. It is, hare or ra bbit from its form, or a bird from its 
however, of vegetable origin, being the com- nes t; cause to come suddenly into view, action, 
mon nostoc. 
I have seen a good quantity of that jelly that Is some- 
times found on the ground, and by the vulgar called a 
star-shoot, as if it remained upon the extinction of a fall- 
ing star. Boyle, Works, I. 244. 
star-slough (stiir'sluf), re. Same as star-shoot. 
Star-spangled (star'spang"gld), a. Spotted or 
spangled with stars : as, the star-spangled ban- 
ner, the national flag of the United States. 
Thou, friendly Night, 
That wide o'er Heaven's star-spangled plain 
Boldest thy awful reign. 
Potter, tr. of .Sschylus (ed. 1779), II. 333. (Jodrell.) 
The star-spangled banner, long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! 
F. S. Key, The Star-Spangled Banner. 
Spotted or 
play,' flight, or the like : as," to start game ; to 
start the detectives. 
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Cffisar. 
Shak., J. C., i. 2. 147. 
She had aimed ... at Philip, but had started quite other 
g ame . J. Hawthorne, Dust, p. 168. 
2. To originate; begin; set in motion; set 
going; give the first or a new impulse to: as, 
to start a fire ; to start a newspaper, a school, 
or a new business; to start a controversy. 
One of our society of the Trumpet . . . started last night 
a notion which I thought had reason in it. 
Steele, Tatler, No. 202. 
part ; a break or opening. 
There[under a ship'skeel], Instead of astart, as they call 
an opening in the copper, I found something sticking in 
the hull. St- Nicholas, XVII. 586. 
10f. Distance. 
Being a great start from Athens to England. 
Lyly, Euphues and his England, p. 223. 
At a start*, at a bound; in an instant. 
At a stert he was betwix hem two. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 847. 
To get or bave the start, to be beforehand (with); gain 
the lead or advantage ; get ahead : generally with of. 
star-spotted ( star ' spot "ed), a. 
studded with stars. ! 1790 Canning and his friends started, as a weekly pa- 
Star-stone (star'ston), . 1. Same as asteriated per the "Anti-Jacobin," which had a brilliant career of 
saWhire (see sapphire) and asteria. *. A cut eight months. U. Morley, English Writers, etc., I. 110. 
It doth amaze me 
A man of such a feeble temper should 
So get the start of the majestic world 
Kindly conversation could not be sustained between us. *"< bear the palm alone. Shak., J. C., i i 
because whatever topic I started immediately received gtart 2 (start), . [Early mod. E. also stert; < 
from her a turn at once coarse and trite, perverse and jjg star f s tert, stirt, steort, < AS. steort = 
imbecile. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, ixvii. OF ^ es _ J^ gt ' irt _ M p. steertj D . staart = 
MLG. LG. stert, ste/rt, staart, steerd = MHG. 
G. stars = Icel. utertr = Sw. Dan. stjert, tail ; 
