false start
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Tweet n. 1. Sports a. An illegal racing start in which one of the competitors begins moving before the starting signal. b. A violation of the rules governing the start of play in which a player moves from a set position before play is initiated, especially a rule violation in football in which an offensive player other than the center moves from a set position before the ball is snapped. 2. A misguided or unsuccessful attempt to begin something: wrote the first paragraph after several false starts. false-start v. |
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