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# starter

«starter» in Mova's school dictionary: **A small dish eaten as the first part of a meal; in the US…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a starter, starters)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ) A small dish eaten as the first part of a meal; in the US called an appetizer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#m1)

2) A person who starts a race, or a person or team that begins a game (not a substitute). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#m2)

3) A device that starts an engine. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#m3)

4) «For starters» (informal): to begin with; first of all. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#m4)

5) Something to start with: a starter pack, a conversation starter, a sourdough starter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life restaurants serve a starter, a main course and a dessert. In maths problems a three-course meal adds the prices. In sport the starter fires the gun; starters play from the beginning. In lessons a «starter» is the short warm-up activity at the start.

### examples

- For a starter I'll have the tomato soup. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#x1)
- The starter costs $5, the main $12 and the pudding $4 — $21 in all. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#x2)
- The starter fired the gun and the race began. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#x3)
- He's a starter now, not a sub. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#x4)
- For starters, your room is a mess. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#x5)
- The car's starter is broken, so it won't start. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#x6)
- Our maths starter today was a times-table quiz. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/#x7)

### note

In the US «appetizer» is more common for the dish; in the UK «starter». «Non-starter»: an idea with no chance of working.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «starter» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starter/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.