start out

phrasal verb

started out; starting out; starts out

1

: to begin in a specified way

He started out by introducing himself.

She started out at a slow jog.

The day started out hot and humid.

The story started out good, but I didn't like the ending.

She started out wanting to be a doctor but became a midwife instead.

—often + with

I started out with $100 but I have only $10 left.

Let's start out with some warm-up exercises.

2

: to have a specified quality, identity, job, etc., at the start

What started out as a simple idea has become an expensive and complicated project.

He started out in teaching before becoming a lawyer.

3

: to begin an important period in one's life or career

The couple is just starting out.

She started out on a career in teaching.

4

: to begin a trip

They started out in the early morning.

5

: to have a particular place as a beginning point

The parade starts out at the intersection of First and Main.

Examples of start out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nikitin, whose legal surname is Kapustin, is one of Europe’s most influential neo-Nazi activists, starting out small with fight club events held in backwater Russian cities among amateurs from soccer hooligan and skinhead groups. —Ali Winston, WIRED, 13 Dec. 2024

As someone who started out on the Disney Channel, Jonas credited much of his success to that experience. —Liza Esquibias, People.com, 13 Dec. 2024

The Macabre had been in my head for a while but started out very differently: What if a person bought a house, there was a cursed painting inside, and they were brought into a team of agents who cleansed these paintings to help hunt them? —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 12 Dec. 2024

That 2024 campaign started out with Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely being out of bounds by just a toe on a game-ending, end-zone grab in Week One. —Jeff Fedotin, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024