adv, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To cause to start; startle; start up; jump. obsolete, transitive

   "oft out of her bed she did astart, / As one with vew of ghastly feends affright [...]."

2. 2
   To start up. intransitive
3. 3
   To get away, escape; escape from. obsolete
4. 4
   To be escaped from. intransitive

Adverb

1. 1
   With a start; suddenly. not-comparable, obsolete

Example

More examples

"oft out of her bed she did astart, / As one with vew of ghastly feends affright [...]."

Etymology

From Middle English asterten, asteorten, from a- (from Old English ā-) + sterten, equivalent to a- + start.

Related phrases

get awaystart up

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.