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Seem vs Start - What's the difference?

seem | start |

As a proper noun seem

is shem.

As an acronym start is

(law).

seem

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (lb) To appear; to look outwardly; to be perceived as.
  • * 1813 (14thc.), (Dante Alighieri), The Vision of Hell as translated by The Rev. H. F. Cary.
  • *:He, from his face removing the gross air, / Oft his left hand forth stretch'd, and seem'd alone / By that annoyance wearied.
  • *
  • *:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too..
  • *, title=The Mirror and the Lamp
  • , chapter=2 citation , passage=That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.}}
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=19 citation , passage=Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.}}
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=August 5, author=Nathan Rabin
  • , title= TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993) , passage=So while Ralph generally seems to inhabit a different, more glorious and joyful universe than everyone else here his yearning and heartbreak are eminently relateable. Ralph sometimes appears to be a magically demented sprite who has assumed the form of a boy, but he’s never been more poignantly, nakedly, movingly human than he is here.}}
  • (lb) To befit; to beseem.
  • :(Spenser)
  • Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Derived terms

    * meseems * seeming * seemingly

    Statistics

    *

    start

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) stert, from the verb . See below.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The beginning of an activity.
  • The movie was entertaining from start to finish.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, / Straining upon the start .
  • A sudden involuntary movement.
  • He woke with a start .
  • * L'Estrange
  • Nature does nothing by starts and leaps, or in a hurry.
  • * Robert Louis Stevenson, Olalla
  • The sight of his scared face, his starts and pallors and sudden harkenings, unstrung me
  • The beginning point of a race, a board game, etc.
  • An appearance in a sports game from the beginning of the match.
  • Jones has been a substitute before, but made his first start for the team last Sunday.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=February 12 , author=Ian Hughes , title=Arsenal 2 - 0 Wolverhampton\ , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Wilshere, who made his first start for England in the midweek friendly win over Denmark, raced into the penalty area and chose to cross rather than shoot - one of the very few poor selections he made in the match. }}
  • A young plant germinated]] in a pot to be [[transplant, transplanted later.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) . More at (l).

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To begin, commence, initiate.
  • # To set in motion.
  • #* (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • I was engaged in conversation upon a subject which the people love to start in discourse.
  • #* , chapter=22
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.}}
  • # To begin.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Finland spreads word on schools , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}
  • # (senseid)To initiate operation of a vehicle or machine.
  • # To put or raise (a question, an objection); to put forward (a subject for discussion).
  • # To bring onto being or into view; to originate; to invent.
  • #* Sir (1628–1699)
  • Sensual men agree in the pursuit of every pleasure they can start .
  • To begin an activity.
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ 
  • To startle or be startled; to move or be moved suddenly.
  • # To jerk suddenly in surprise.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • But if he start , / It is the flesh of a corrupted heart.
  • #* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • I start as from some dreadful dream.
  • #* (Isaac Watts) (1674-1748)
  • Keep your soul to the work when ready to start aside.
  • # To move suddenly from its place or position; to displace or loosen; to dislocate.
  • #* Wiseman
  • One, by a fall in wrestling, started the end of the clavicle from the sternum.
  • # To awaken suddenly.
  • #* (rfdate) (Mary Shelley)
  • I started from my sleep with horror
  • # To disturb and cause to move suddenly; to startle; to alarm; to rouse; to cause to flee or fly.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Upon malicious bravery dost thou come / To start my quiet?
  • To break away, to come loose.
  • * 1749 , (John Cleland), (w) (Penguin 1985 reprint), page 66:
  • we could, with the greatest ease as well as clearness, see all objects (ourselves unseen) only by applying our eyes close to the crevice, where the moulding of a panel had warped or started a little on the other side.
  • (nautical) To pour out; to empty; to tap and begin drawing from.
  • Usage notes
    * In uses 1.1 and 1.2 this is a catenative verb that takes the infinitive (to'') or the gerund (''-ing ) form. There is no change in meaning. * For more information, see
    Antonyms
    * stop
    Derived terms
    * * starter

    See also

    * at the start * false start * for a start * get started * jump-start * start off * start on * start out * start up

    Etymology 3

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A tail, or anything projecting like a tail.
  • A handle, especially that of a plough.
  • The curved or inclined front and bottom of a water wheel bucket.
  • The arm, or level, of a gin, drawn around by a horse.
  • (Webster 1913)