Link Centre Dictionary

kick

UK/kɪk/ US/kʰɪk/ common informal slang uk

verb

1.

drive or propel with the foot

2.

thrash about or strike out with the feet

3.

strike with the foot

  • “The boy kicked the dog”
  • “Kick the door down”
4.

kick a leg up

5.

spring back, as from a forceful thrust

  • “The gun kicked back into my shoulder”
6.

stop consuming

  • “kick a habit”
7.

make a goal

  • “He kicked the extra point after touchdown”
8.

express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness

  • “My mother complains all day”
  • “She has a lot to kick about”

noun

1.

the act of delivering a blow with the foot

  • “he gave the ball a powerful kick”
  • “the team”
Synonyms
2.

the swift release of a store of affective force

  • “they got a great bang out of it”
  • “what a boot!”
  • “he got a quick rush from injecting heroin”
  • “he does it for kicks”
3.

the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired

Synonyms
4.

informal terms for objecting

  • “I have a gripe about the service here”
5.

the sudden stimulation provided by strong drink (or certain drugs)

  • “a sidecar is a smooth drink but it has a powerful kick”
6.

a rhythmic thrusting movement of the legs as in swimming or calisthenics

  • “the kick must be synchronized with the arm movements”
  • “the swimmer”
Synonyms

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.

Related words

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.