face, face up, confront - deal with (something unpleasant) head on; "You must confront your problems"; "He faced the terrible consequences of his mistakes"

act, move - perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel"

initiate, pioneer - take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of; "This South African surgeon pioneered heart transplants"

recommence - beging again; "we recommenced his reading after a short nap"

strike out - set out on a course of action; "He struck out on his own"

fall - begin vigorously; "The prisoners fell to work right away"

jump off - set off quickly, usually with success; "The freshman set off to a good start in his math class"

get to - arrive at the point of; "She gets to fretting if I stay away form home too long"

auspicate - commence in a manner calculated to bring good luck; "They auspicated the trip with a bottle of champagne"

attack - set to work upon; turn one's energies vigorously to a task; "I attacked the problem as soon as I got out of bed"

break in - start in a certain activity, enterprise, or role

launch, plunge - begin with vigor; "He launched into a long diatribe"; "She plunged into a dangerous adventure"

come on - become available; "water or electricity came on again after the earthquake"

embark, enter - set out on (an enterprise, subject of study, etc.); "she embarked upon a new career"

get moving, get rolling, get started, get weaving, bestir oneself, get cracking, get going - start to be active; "Get cracking, please!"

begin - begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language; "She began Russian at an early age"; "We started French in fourth grade"