How to Use start off in a Sentence

start off

verb
  • The brown spots that start off yellow are caused by a fungus.
    — Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 30 May 2026
  • The game started off with a blunder.
    — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2026
  • This year overall, has started off very warm.
    — Ron Smiley, CBS News, 1 May 2026
  • Wednesday should start off mainly cloudy, dry, and breezy.
    — Steven Sosna, CBS News, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Lugo’s career didn’t start off as planned.
    — Kansas City Star, 25 June 2026
  • Kanakis took over in sixth the and struck out the side to start off his appearance.
    — Zachary McMahon, Boston Herald, 10 June 2026
  • This one started off as a sports one, but not for sexist reasons.
    — Kate Lavelle, Glamour, 18 May 2026
  • That's after most started off near 60.
    — Ron Smiley, CBS News, 8 June 2026
  • Things that start off shiny usually tarnish.
    — Walden Green, Pitchfork, 24 Apr. 2026
  • The cameras picked back up on the morning of her release to start off season seven.
    — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The premise started off with somebody watching news in a diner or a small restaurant.
    — Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2026
  • Things start off with a manageable 92 degrees.
    — Andrew Kozak, CBS News, 28 June 2026
  • The clip started off with Thompson's face covered in what appeared to be tape.
    — Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026
  • Vinicius started off through the middle, flitted over to the left, went roaming.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 1 June 2026
  • Others start off green and mature to red without going through the yellow and orange stages.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 1 Apr. 2026
  • The month is definitely starting off that way, with a couple of storms in the forecast.
    — Lisa Meadows, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026
  • From the basic to the more involved, taking steps to start off well does set a foundation for a great season.
    — Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 7 May 2026
  • The match started off hot with Slater and Alexander trading blows to begin the match.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 15 May 2026
  • While the day started off fairly mild, temps rapidly climbed late in the morning, with little reprieve in sight.
    — Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2026
  • This is why things that start off challenging get easier with practice—our brains have rewired themselves.
    — Dr. Deepika Chopra, Flow Space, 16 June 2026
  • Something that started off respectfully and and never veered from that path.
    — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 24 June 2026
  • Similar to his last game, Peterson started off very slow.
    — Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 10 Jan. 2026
  • And two of the major chase scenes were designed so that what starts off as righteous somehow tilts toward being unjust.
    — Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2026
  • Things start off tense and get worse when a mysterious group of knife-wielding Aztec cultists show up to slaughter them all.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 24 July 2026
  • O’Connell serves a glorious eight-course tasting menu that starts off with carnival snacks.
    — Jamila Robinson, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
  • That's a lot of growth for a company that started off as a DVD rental website.
    — James Mercadante, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Apr. 2026
  • In the face of accomplishing history, the Knicks started off ice cold.
    — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 14 June 2026
  • Powers started off practicing but left midway through and wasn’t spotted in the later parts of the session.
    — Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 6 Aug. 2026
  • To prevent this, hold the can eight to ten inches away from the fabric, make long, even passes—and always start off the cushion and then spray on.
    — Bianca Lambert, Southern Living, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Cryst, a 6-foot-10 freshman middle blocker, started off the fourth set with back-to-back service aces.
    — Haley Sawyer, Oc Register, 10 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'start off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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