Yes, start is a Scrabble word!

Verb

1. Take the first step or steps in carrying out an action

2. Set in motion, cause to start

3. Leave

4. Have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense

5. Bring into being

6. Get off the ground

7. Move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm

8. Get going or set in motion

9. Begin or set in motion

10. Begin work or acting in a certain capacity, office or job

11. Play in the starting lineup

12. Have a beginning characterized in some specified way

13. Begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object

14. Bulge outward

Noun

1. The beginning of anything

2. The time at which something is supposed to begin

3. A turn to be a starter (in a game at the beginning)

4. A sudden involuntary movement

5. The act of starting something

6. A line indicating the location of the start of a race or a game

7. A signal to begin (as in a race)

8. The advantage gained by beginning early (as in a race)