starting block

noun, Track.
1.
a device used by runners, especially sprinters, for increasing their speed off the mark, consisting of a metal or wooden frame, usually secured to the ground at both ends, with adjustable, triangular-shaped blocks on each side for bracing the feet.
Origin
1945-50
Examples from the web for starting block
  • But he lost out in the nationals, perhaps because his car might have been crooked in the starting block.
  • With the power turned on, an arc is struck between the electrode and a starting block placed in the mold.
British Dictionary definitions for starting block

starting block

noun
1.
one of a pair of adjustable devices with pads or blocks against which a sprinter braces his feet in crouch starts