1. To begin a career at a particular company, university, sports club, etc. The company's current CEO started out at one of its retail branches nearly 30 years ago as a mail clerk. The football star started out 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 out 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 "out." Why don't we start you out at midfield and see how you get on from there? They started him out 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 out 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 out 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 "out." We'll have to start you out 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 out 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 out at $75 per person, but they go all the way up to $300 for VIP access. The antique vase started out at $200 at the auction.