1. To begin a career at a particular company, university, sports club, etc. The company's current CEO started off at one of its retail branches nearly 30 years ago as a mail clerk. The football star started off at the University of Oklahoma but transferred to Missouri in his sophomore year.

2. To begin playing in a particular position on a sports team. I started off at wide receiver, but found I was a much better running back.

3. To assign someone a particular position on a sports team. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "start" and "off." Why don't we start you off at midfield and see how you get on from there? They started him off at right wing, but found he was much better suited to center.

4. To begin a job or career at a particular salary level or amount. Unfortunately, you'll start off at a pretty meager wage when you're first getting started as an editor, but you can end up earning quite a lot if you stick with it. The new manager we hire will start off at $70,000 per year.

5. To provide someone with a particular salary level or amount in a job or career. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "start" and "off." We'll have to start you off at an entry-level salary, but if you're as good as your résumé indicates, we'll be happy to increase that amount substantially. They said they would be willing to start me off at $30,000 per year to satisfy my immigration requirement.

6. To be set at some initial or minimum price or valuation. Tickets to the concert are starting off at $75 per person, but they go all the way up to $300 for VIP access. The antique vase started off at $200 at the auction.