Start crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Start” are FIRST, BEGIN or BULGE, with 5 letters. Below are 31 answers from 3 to 12 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

Have some letters? Use the crossword solver

The best answers, explained

POP 3 letters · verb

bulge outward “His eyes popped”

PART 4 letters · verb

depart for someplace

FIRST 5 letters · noun

the time at which something is supposed to begin

OFFSET 6 letters · noun

the time at which something is supposed to begin

SCRATCH 7 letters · noun

a line indicating the location of the start of a race or a game

INITIATE 8 letters · verb

bring into being “He initiated a new program”

BEGINNING 9 letters · noun

the time at which something is supposed to begin

RECOMMENCE 10 letters · verb

cause to start anew “The enemy recommenced hostilities after a few days of quiet”

COMMENCEMENT 12 letters · noun

the time at which something is supposed to begin

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, PART, JUMP and FIRE all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: P → PART · J → JUMP · F → FIRE. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 5 squares, FIRST, BEGIN, BULGE, LIGHT, CATCH and CRANK all fit. The fourth letter tells them all apart: S → FIRST · I → BEGIN · G → BULGE · H → LIGHT · C → CATCH · N → CRANK. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 3 squares, POP, SHY and BUD all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: P → POP · S → SHY · B → BUD. Fill in that crossing answer first.

Other forms of this clue

Clues often use another form of the word, and the answer then takes the same form: “staring” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “start” means

• verb: take the first step or steps in carrying out an action (“Who will start?”)
• verb: set in motion, cause to start (“The U.S. started a war in the Middle East”)
• verb: depart for someplace
• verb: have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense (“Prices for these homes start at $250,000”)

A clue usually points at one of these senses, so the right answer is the one that matches the sense the puzzle means: check it against the crossing words.

About these answers

We match the clue against our own thesaurus and dictionary (Open English WordNet): words that mean the same as START, and words whose definition is START. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.