str.startswith(tuple) ... which start?

[Gribouillis]

I would perhaps use bisect for this, if the tuple is sorted

>>> import bisect
>>> t = ('bar', 'baz', 'foo')
>>> w = 'bazaaa'
>>> w.startswith(t)
True
>>> index = bisect.bisect_right(t, w) - 1
>>> t[index]
'baz'