Start vs While - What's the difference?
start | while |
The beginning of an activity.
* Shakespeare
A sudden involuntary movement.
* L'Estrange
* Robert Louis Stevenson, Olalla
The beginning point of a race, a board game, etc.
An appearance in a sports game from the beginning of the match.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=February 12
, author=Ian Hughes
, title=Arsenal 2 - 0 Wolverhampton\
, work=BBC
A young plant germinated]] in a pot to be [[transplant, transplanted later.
(label) To begin, commence, initiate.
# To set in motion.
#* (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
#* , chapter=22
, title= # To begin.
#* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
, volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= # (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)
To begin an activity.
* , chapter=1
, title= To startle or be startled; to move or be moved suddenly.
# To jerk suddenly in surprise.
#* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
#* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
#* (Isaac Watts) (1674-1748)
# To move suddenly from its place or position; to displace or loosen; to dislocate.
#* Wiseman
# To awaken suddenly.
#* (rfdate) (Mary Shelley)
# To disturb and cause to move suddenly; to startle; to alarm; to rouse; to cause to flee or fly.
#* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
To break away, to come loose.
* 1749 , (John Cleland), (w) (Penguin 1985 reprint), page 66:
(nautical) To pour out; to empty; to tap and begin drawing from.
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)
An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.
During the same time that.
* , chapter=12
, title= * 1948 , , North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States , J. B. Lippincott Company, page 25,
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
, volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Although.
* 2013 September 28, (Kenan Malik), "
(Northern England, Scotland) Until.
* Beaumont and Fletcher
As long as.
* I. Watts
To pass (time) idly.
* Longfellow
To loiter.
As an acronym start
is (law).As a noun while is
an uncertain duration of time, a period of time.As a conjunction while is
during the same time that.As a verb while is
to pass (time) idly.start
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) stert, from the verb . See below.Noun
(en noun)- The movie was entertaining from start to finish.
- I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, / Straining upon the start .
- He woke with a start .
- Nature does nothing by starts and leaps, or in a hurry.
- The sight of his scared face, his starts and pallors and sudden harkenings, unstrung me
- Jones has been a substitute before, but made his first start for the team last Sunday.
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. }}
Etymology 2
From (etyl) . More at (l).Verb
(en verb)- I was engaged in conversation upon a subject which the people love to start in discourse.
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.}}
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.}}
- Sensual men agree in the pursuit of every pleasure they can start .
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’
- But if he start , / It is the flesh of a corrupted heart.
- I start as from some dreadful dream.
- Keep your soul to the work when ready to start aside.
- One, by a fall in wrestling, started the end of the clavicle from the sternum.
- I started from my sleep with horror
- Upon malicious bravery dost thou come / To start my quiet?
- 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.
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, seeAntonyms
* stopDerived terms
* * starterSee also
* at the start * false start * for a start * get started * jump-start * start off * start on * start out * start upEtymology 3
Noun
(en noun)while
English
Noun
(en noun)- He lectured for quite a long while .
Conjunction
(wikipedia while) (English Conjunctions)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=While the powwow was going on the big woman came back again. She was consider'ble rumpled and scratched up, but there was fire in her eye.}}
- While De Anza was exploring the Bay of San Francisco, seeking a site for the presidio, the American colonists on the eastern seaboard, three thousand miles away, were celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Fantasy of navigation, passage=Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.}}
London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
- While Britain’s recession has been deep and unforgiving, in London it has been relatively shallow.
- I may be conveyed into your chamber; I'll lie under your bed while midnight.
- Use your memory; you will sensibly experience a gradual improvement, while you take care not to overload it.
Verb
(whil)- The lovely lady whiled the hours away.
- (Spectator)