From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstart up phrasal verb1 if you start up a business, company etc, or it starts up, it begins to exist Tax breaks help new companies start up.start something ↔ up Jordan started up a band of his own.2 if an engine, car etc starts up, or you start it up, it begins working The driver got back into the car and started up.start something ↔ up Rory started up the engine and got the vehicle moving.3 if a sound, activity, or event starts up, it begins to exist or happen The crickets had started up now that it was evening. → start→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
start up• The anti-virus icon should appear whenever you start up your computer.start-upˈstart-up1 adjective [only before noun] START DOING somethingconnected with starting a new business start-up costsExamples from the Corpus
start-up• a start-up budget of $90,000• The time has come for start-up companies like mine to turn all our efforts into something concrete.• start-up companies• With savings of £20,000 you could expect to finance a franchise with a start-up cost and working capital of £60,000.• See what the normal start-up costs are for renting and furnishing an office, a salesroom, or a studio.• It provides start-up dialogues, macro dialogues and exit dialogues to open and close applications.• The company, called VacTex Corp., has raised $ 1 million in start-up funds.• Several start-up Net companies saw their share prices rocket in the first few years, only to see them plunge as the recession hit.• But to take ViaCord beyond the start-up phase, Fisher this year plans to seek $ 6 million in venture capital.• Kenyon wound up shaving not one but three seconds off the start-up time, sparing a hundred extra souls from the Reaper.start-upstart-up2 noun [countable] a new small company or business, especially one whose work involves computers or the Internet an Internet start-upExamples from the Corpus
start-up• There were 4000 start-ups in Silicon Valley in 1998.• Typical of such an arrangement is the funding provided by Compaq Computers to a start-up in 1986.• Former rally driver Jean Denton is battling to reduce red tape and bureaucratic burdens on small firms and start-ups.• Compared with the rest of the country, California now has above-average growth in jobs, exports and business start-ups.• Those transient troubles occurred on especially cold mornings at initial start-up.• Internet start-ups• New start-ups provided 14 percent, and new branches 18 percent.• It is not necessary to be a small start-up.• I was peripherally involved in a somewhat obstructionist way in the start-up of C-SPAN.• Details of the USWeb plan were not available, but sources say the start-up will offer prospective franchisees a turnkey operation.From Longman Business Dictionarystart-upˈstart-up adjective start-up costs, spending etc are connected with beginning and running a new business or new business activitya start-up budget of £90,000The company saw its profits drop because of the effect of start-up costs at a new plastics molding plant. 