stark
1358
wide open with a look of stark terror. | His actions were in
stark contrast to his words. —ly adv
stark² adv 1 stark naked infml without any clothes; completely NAKED 2 stark raving/staring mad humor completely mad
Stark, Dame Frey·a /'freɪə/ (1893–1993) a British traveller
and writer known for her books about her travels in the
Middle East
stark·ers /'stɑːkəz||'stɑːrkərz/ adj [F] BrE humor NAKED
star·let /'stɑːlɪt||'stɑːr-/ n a young actress who plays small
parts in films, hoping to become famous
star·light /'stɑːlaɪt||'stɑːr-/ n [U] the light given by the stars,
often considered to be ROMANTIC: a walk in the starlight
star·ling /'stɑːlɪŋ||'stɑːr-/ n a very common usually
greenish-black European bird
star·lit /'stɑːlɪt||'stɑːr-/ adj especially lit lighted by the stars;
bright with many stars: a starlit night
,Star of 'Bethlehem, the the star which, in the Bible,
appeared in the sky when Jesus was born, to show the way
to the place of his birth
,Star of 'David a star with six points which represents
Judaism and the state of Israel. In Nazi Germany, Jews were
forced to wear a Yellow Star of David so that everyone could
see that they were Jews.
Starr, Ken·neth /stɑːr, 'kenəθ/ (1946–) a US lawyer who in
1994 was given the job of ‘independent counsel’, to find out
the truth about various claims made against President Clinton,
including claims that he was involved in dishonest
business activities and that he had had secret sexual relationships with several women. Some people criticized Starr
for spending too much time and public money to find out
all the facts, because they believed these had no effect on
Clinton’s ability to do his job well. → see also STARR
REPORT, THE
Starr, Rin·go /'rɪŋəʊ/ (1940–) a British musician who
played the drums in the POP GROUP The Beatles
'Starr Re,port, the n a very long report written in 1998 by
Kenneth STARR, the lawyer responsible for finding out about
the sexual relationship between President Bill CLINTON and
Monica LEWINSKY and whether the President had lied in
order to hide the relationship. The report was made available on the INTERNET for anyone to read.
star·ry /'stɑːri/ adj filled with stars: a starry winter sky
,starry-'eyed adj infml (very happy because) full of unreasonable or silly hopes: a starry-eyed optimist
,Stars and 'Bars, the the CONFEDERATE FLAG
,Stars and 'Stripes, the AmE the flag of the US
CULTURAL NOTE There are 50 stars on the US flag to
represent the 50 states in the US, and there are 13
STRIPES to represent the 13 original colonies (COLONY)
that became the first states of the US. In the past, when
there were fewer states, there were fewer stars. → see
Cultural Note at FLAG
Star·ship En·ter·prise /ˌstɑːʃɪp 'entəpraɪz||stɑːr- -tər-/
the name of the SPACESHIP in the television show STAR TREK
'star sign n any of the 12 divisions of the year represented by
groups of stars: What is your star sign?
,Stars in their 'Eyes a British television TALENT show,
where each CONTESTANT (=someone who competes in a
contest) dresses and sings in the style of a well-known
entertainer and is given marks for how well they perform
Star·sky and Hutch /ˌstɑːski ənd 'hʌtʃ||ˌstɑːr-/ a popular
US television programme of the 1970s, also shown in the
UK, about two police officers
,Star-Spangled 'Banner, the 1 the NATIONAL ANTHEM
(=national song) of the US. The words are from a poem by
Francis Scott Key, based on a battle between Britain and the
US in 1812.
CULTURAL NOTE The Star-Spangled Banner is typically sung
at the beginning of a professional sports event in the US,
such as a baseball or an American football game. People
are expected to stand up, remove their hats, and put their
right hand over their hearts while the song is being sung in
order to show respect and support for the US. Some
people dislike this song, because it is about war and is
difficult to sing. These people think a song such as
‘America the Beautiful’ would be a better national anthem.
2 the national flag of the US, especially when used as a
SYMBOL to represent the country
'star,-stud·ded adj infml filled with famous performers: a
star-studded cast
start¹ /stɑːt||stɑːrt/ v 1 [I;T(OFF, with)] to (cause to) go into a
state of (movement, operation, or activity); begin: Has the
meeting started yet? | We’ll start (the meal) (off) with onion
soup. | I started my journey at dawn. | We start work at 8.30
every morning. | Let’s start (the meeting) by electing a
chairman. | All our machinery was lost in the fire so we had to
start from scratch. (=start again from the beginning)
[+to-v/ing] It’s started to rain/started raining. | I started to
learn French/started learning French when I was ten. |
[+obj+v-ing] The slightest bit of dust starts me (off) sneezing. 2 [I;T(UP)] to (cause to) come into existence: How did the
trouble start? | Who started that rumour? | I’m trying to start
up a swimming club. | We’re thinking of starting a family.
(=having our first baby) 3 [I(UP);T] to (cause to) begin operation: The car won’t start. (=its engine cannot be made to
work) | The clock keeps stopping and starting; I wonder what’s
wrong with it. | I can’t get the fire started. (=it cannot be made
to burn) 4 [I(IN, on)] to begin doing a job or a piece of work:
In this office we start at 9.00 in the morning. | You’re hired,
when can you start? | Will I have time to start (in) on digging
the garden tonight? 5 [I(OFF, OUT, for)] to begin a journey: It’s a
long trip; we’ll have to start (out/off) early and start back for
home in the afternoon. 6 [I+adv/prep, especially at, from] to go
from a particular point; have a beginning or lower limit:
Prices start at £5. | The train starts from London. | Starting
from next week, all employees will receive a 10% pay
increase. 7 [T] to begin using: We’ve finished this bottle of
wine; shall we start a new one? | Start each page on the second
line. 8 [I(OFF, OUT)] to begin one’s life, a course of action etc;
by being: He started out poor/a poor office boy, and now he’s a
millionaire. | If you want to be a champion swimmer you’ve
got to start young. 9 [I] to take part in a match or competition
from the beginning: The horse went lame and was
unable to start. 10 [I] infml to begin to be annoying, by
arguing, asking for things etc: Oh, don’t you start
again! 11 [I(at)] to make a quick uncontrolled movement
especially from sudden surprise: She started at the noise. |
The touch on his shoulder made him start. 12 [I+adv/prep]
especially lit to move suddenly and violently from rest: He
started angrily to his feet. | Blood started from the
wound. 13 start (all) over again also start over especially AmE
— to begin again as before or as at the beginning 14 start
something infml to make trouble; start a fight: Are you trying
to start something? 15 to start with a) at the beginning: I
was a bit nervous to start with, but I soon got used to it. b
also for a start — (used before the first in a list of facts,
reasons etc): It won’t work: for a start, it would take too long
and secondly it would cost too much. 16 I’ve started so I’ll
finish. an expression that was made popular by Magnus
Magnusson, a television PRESENTER who used to ask the
questions on the British television QUIZ programme Mastermind. He used this phrase when he was in the middle of
asking a question, but was interrupted by a BUZZER which
showed that there was no time left to ask any more questions to a CONTESTANT.
1 You can start/begin to do something or you can
start/begin doing something, but the ‘doing’ form is less
common with begin. You cannot use the ‘doing’ form
when the first verb is in the -ing form: I’m
beginning/starting to cook the dinner or when the
second verb deals with feelings or the mind: She
started/began to understand. 2 Begin cannot be used
instead of start before off, up, out, back or in the
meanings a (of a machine) to (cause to) start working: The
car won’t start b to start in a match or competition c to
make a surprised or sudden movement. 3 Commence is
used like begin not start and is very formal.
start² n 1 [C] a beginning of activity or development: The
start of the race had to be delayed. | The play got off to a bad