For she did speak in starts distractedly.
Shak.
Nature does nothing by starts and leaps, or in a hurry.
L'Estrange.
3. A sudden, unexpected movement; a sudden and capricious impulse; a
sally; as, starts of fancy.
To check the starts and sallies of the soul.
Addison.
4. The beginning, as of a journey or a course of action; first motion
from a place; act of setting out; the outset; -- opposed to finish.
The start of first performance is all.
Bacon.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the
start.
Shak.