Meaning of self-starter | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A person who shows initiative and resourcefulness.
2. A mechanism (usually one operated by electricity, compressed air, a spring, or an explosive gas), attached to an internal-combustion engine, as on an automobile, and used as a means of starting the engine without cranking it by hand.
3. An engine so equipped, or the vehicle that it powers.

Examples

“Purchasing a snowplow transforms Homer into a new man. Mr. Burns' laziest employee suddenly becomes an ambitious self-starter who buys ad time on local television at 3:17 A.M^([sic]) (prime viewing hours, Homer gingerly volunteers, for everyone from alcoholics to the unemployable to garden-variety angry loners) and makes a homemade commercial costarring his family.”

“His ancient Cadillac was one of the first self-starters.”

CEFR level