kick

A hit or strike with the leg, foot or knee.

Noun

  1. A hit or strike with the leg, foot or knee.
    • A kick to the knee.
    • A kick of his boot-heel sent the door flying into the room. - 1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “A Raid on the Stale-beer Dives”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles...
    • Elsad Zverotic gave Montenegro hope with a goal with the last kick of the first half - and when Rooney was deservedly shown red by referee Wolfgang Stark, England were placed under pressure they could not survive. -...

    Synonyms: calcation

  2. The action of swinging a foot or leg.
    • The ballerina did a high kick and a leap.
  3. Something that tickles the fancy; something fun or amusing; a pleasure; a thrill.
    • I finally saw the show. What a kick!
    • I think I sprained something on my latest exercise kick.
    • get a kick out of
  4. The removal of a person from an online activity.
  5. The act of restarting or resetting a watchdog timer.
  6. Any bucking motion of an object that lacks legs or feet.
    • The car had a nasty kick the whole way.
    • The pool ball took a wild kick, up off the table.
  7. A pungent or spicy flavour; piquancy.
    • Add a little cascabel pepper to ordinary tomato sauce to give it a kick. - 2002, Ellen and Michael Albertson, Temptations, Fireside, page 124 http://books.google.com/books?id=cITFVpz2ri8C&pg=PA124&dq=kick
    • For extra kick, hollow out a lime, float it on top of the drink, and fill it with tequila. - 2003, Sheree Bykofsky, Megan Buckley, Sexy City Cocktails, Adams Media, →ISBN, page 129:
    • The first time I saw "Deep Water," the trace of mystery in the Crowhurst affair gave the movie a kick of excitement. - 2007 August 27, Anthony Lane, “Lone Sailors”, in The New Yorker, volume 83, numbers 22-28:
  8. A stimulation provided by an intoxicating substance.
  9. A pass played by kicking with the foot.
  10. The distance traveled by kicking the ball.
    • a long kick up the field.
  11. The recoil of a gun.
  12. A pocket.
    • Some nights I’d try my luck in the crap game and wind up with a grand or more in my kick. - 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Quit Foolin’ with That Comb”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House,...
    • Her mind couldn’t lose sight of […]the bloodied nickel plated pistol Angie had in his kick. - 1952, George Mandel, Flee the Angry Strangers, Bobs-Merrill, page 383:
    • Swell shows all of ‘em, except this last one. […] Set me back two-seventy-five, including tax, and I wish I’d got it in my kick right now. - 2008, P.G.Wodehouse, The Adventures of Sally (Volume 2 of...

Origin

From Middle English kyken (“to strike out with the foot”), from Old Norse kikna (“to sink at the knees”) and keikja (“to bend backwards”) (compare Old Norse keikr (“bent backwards, the belly jutting forward”)), from Proto-Germanic *kaikaz (“bent backwards”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kī-, *kij- (“to split, dodge, swerve sidewards”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyH- (“to sprout, shoot”). Compare also Dutch kijken (“to look”), Middle Low German kīken (“to look, watch”). See keek.

Forms

kicks

Derived

antikick autokick axe kick backkick banana kick be left kicking bicycle kick box kick butterfly kick butt-kicking crescent kick crosskick cross-kick donkey kick drop kick dropkick flying kick for kicks free kick get a kick out of hook kick kecks kickability kickable

Verb Entry 2

  1. To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.
    • Did you kick your brother?
    • 1895, George MacDonald, Lilith, Chapter XII: Friends and Foes, I was cuffed by the women and kicked by the men because I would not swallow it.
    • A punt is made by letting the ball drop from the hands and kicking it just before it touches the ground. - 1905, Fielding H. Yost, chapter 6, in Football for Player and Spectator:
  2. To make a sharp jerking movement of the leg, as to strike something.
    • He enjoyed the simple pleasure of watching the kickline kick.
    • Sometimes we had rather rough play, for they would frequently bite and kick as well as gallop. - [1877], Anna Sewell, “My Early Home”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part I, page 10:
    • 1904, Stratemeyer Syndicate, The Bobbsey Twins, Chapter II: Rope Jumping, and What Followed, "If you did that, I'd kick," answered Freddie, and began to kick real hard into the air.
  3. To direct to a particular place by a blow with the foot or leg.
    • Kick the ball into the goal.
    • Sometimes he can kick the ball forward along the ground until it is kicked in goal, where he can fall on it for a touchdown. - 1905, Fielding H. Yost, chapter 7, in Football for Player and Spectator:
  4. To eject summarily.
    • "He's been mad at me ever since I fired him off'n my payroll. After I kicked him off'n my ranch he run for sheriff, and the night of the election everybody was so drunk they voted for him by mistake, or for a joke, or...
    • They are the ones who give hobbyists a bad name, and should be kicked out of any club meeting they show up at. - 1976 February 3, Bill Gates, An Open Letter to Hobbyists:
    • Dial 1-900-Mix-a-Lot and kick them nasty thoughts. - 1992, “Baby Got Back”, in Sir Mix-a-Lot (lyrics), Rick Rubin and Sir Mix-a-Lot (music), Mack Daddy, Def American Recordings:
  5. To forcibly remove a participant from an online activity.
    • She was kicked from the IRC server for flooding.
  6. To overcome (a bothersome or difficult issue or obstacle); to free oneself of (a problem).
    • I still smoke, but they keep telling me to kick the habit.
  7. To move or push suddenly and violently.
    • He was kicked sideways by the force of the blast.
    • The back of the car kicked out violently, forcing me to steer into the slide and accelerate in order to maintain control. - 2011, Tom Andry, Bob Moore: No Hero:
  8. To recoil; to push by recoiling.
    • Lying on the ground, when fired, it kicked me back a foot. There was no way a person my size was going to be able to do an effective job with this gun. - 2003, Jennifer C. D. Groomes, The Falcon Project, page 174:
    • I asked my sister Jeanette if she wanted to shoot the 12 ga. shotgun. She replied, "does it kick"? - 2006, Daniel D. Scherschel, Maple Grove, page 81:
  9. To attack (a piece) in order to force it to move.
  10. To accelerate quickly with a few pedal strokes in an effort to break away from other riders.
    • Contador kicks again to try to rid himself of Rasmussen.
  11. To show opposition or resistance.
    • "My expenses always are reasonable—I mean there is always a reason for them. But I notice that you don't kick at the other item. That doesn't look as if you were exactly optimistic of striking a gold mine, Joolby." -...

    Synonyms: balk object

  12. Of an engine, to engage; to start.
    • The grey Bentley convertible, the 1933 4½-litre with the Amherst-Villiers supercharger, had been brought round a few minutes earlier from the garage where he kept it and the engine had kicked directly he pressed the...

Forms

kicks kicking kicked no-table-tags glossary kick kickest kickedst kicketh -

Verb Entry 3

  1. To die.
    • Who knows what will happen to his billions when the eighty-five-year-old kicks, but before he leaves the planet, Moon reportedly is hell-bent on creating a holy land in North Korea, dedicated to him. - 2005, Melissa L....

Origin

Shortening of kick the bucket.

Forms

kicks kicking kicked

Verb intransitive, slang

  1. To be emphatically excellent.
    • That band really kicks.

    Synonyms: bang rock rule slap devour eat eat and leave no crumbs excel go hard kick kick ass shine slay

Origin

Shortening of kick ass

Forms

kicks kicking kicked