head start

1. Sports A start before other contestants in a race.

2. An early start that confers an advantage.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

head start

head-start

an initial advantage in a competitive situation

[originally referring to a horse's having its head in front of others at the start of a race]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

head′ start′

1. an advantage given or acquired in any competition, endeavor, etc., as allowing one or more competitors in a race to start before the others.

2. a productive beginning: I'll get a head start on the paperwork this weekend.

[1885–90]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

head start - the advantage gained by beginning early (as in a race); "with an hour's start he will be hard to catch"

start

advantage, vantage - the quality of having a superior or more favorable position; "the experience gave him the advantage over me"

head start

noun start, advantage, help, edge, upper hand A good education gives your child a head start in life.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

head start

noun

A factor conducive to superiority and success:

advantage, handicap, odds, start, vantage.

Translations

head start

n (Sport) (fig) to have a head start → partire avvantaggiato/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Presently one of them uttered a low growl and with flattened head started, sneaking and wary, toward the jungle.

View in context

SIUC Head Start currently operates one classroom at the Logan Pre-School.

SIU Head Start to expand services at John A. Logan

In a study published in the April issue of AJPH, researchers studied North Carolina Early Head Start, an early education program for low-income children under 3 years old and their families, and their likelihood of using dental care.

Head start sets up good dental health: highlights from the april issue of APHA's American journal of public health

"Head Start has unique attributes that make it a strong program," she says.

Turning POINTS

Today, CCA employs nearly 500 early childhood educators, specialists and staff to deliver Head Start and Early Head Start services.

Child Care Associates Names New Head Start & Early Head Start Director

Charleen Strauch, Head Start's operations director, said the fir tree fell onto the Delight Valley Head Start School in Saginaw about 4 p.m.

Tree crashes on Head Start; Monday classes canceled

The council's preschool Head Start program had been housed in the 100-year-old school building for the past 12 years.

Head Start Heroes honored for help; Program has new homes in Auburn, Webster and Southbridge

Head Start is the oldest and largest federally funded preschool program in the U.S.

Educational benefits extend to adults

The Study: Researchers looked at the height and weight measurements of 43,748 Michigan children of Head Start age between 2005 and 2013.

Head start & obesity

The cuts will impact poor families who rely on the service for child care and to help prepare their children for school, says Sally Aman, spokesperson for the National Head Start Association advocacy group.

Head start cuts 57,000 children due to sequester

A 2010 United States Department of Health and Human Services study (Puma, Bell, Cook and Heid, 2010) that concluded that children enrolled in Head Start do see benefits.

Commentary: A Head Start Program's Response to State-funded Pre-K