Word: kick Part of Speech: verb Etymology: 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. Pronunciation: /kɪk/, [kʰɪk] 1. To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg. Labels: transitive Example: Did you kick your brother? Example: 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. 2. To make a sharp jerking movement of the leg, as to strike something. Labels: intransitive Example: He enjoyed the simple pleasure of watching the kickline kick. Example: Sometimes we had rather rough play, for they would frequently bite and kick as well as gallop. 3. To direct to a particular place by a blow with the foot or leg. Labels: transitive Example: Kick the ball into the goal. Example: 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. 4. To eject summarily. Example: "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 somethin', and since he's been in office he's been lettin' the sheepmen steal me right out of house and home." Example: They are the ones who give hobbyists a bad name, and should be kicked out of any club meeting they show up at. 5. To forcibly remove a participant from an online activity. Labels: Internet, transitive Example: 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). Labels: slang, transitive Example: I still smoke, but they keep telling me to kick the habit. 7. To move or push suddenly and violently. Example: He was kicked sideways by the force of the blast. Example: The back of the car kicked out violently, forcing me to steer into the slide and accelerate in order to maintain control. 8. To recoil; to push by recoiling. Example: 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. Example: I asked my sister Jeanette if she wanted to shoot the 12 ga. shotgun. She replied, "does it kick"? 9. To attack (a piece) in order to force it to move. Labels: transitive 10. To accelerate quickly with a few pedal strokes in an effort to break away from other riders. Labels: intransitive Example: Contador kicks again to try to rid himself of Rasmussen. 11. To show opposition or resistance. Labels: intransitive Example: "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." 12. Of an engine, to engage; to start. Example: 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 self-starter. 13. To work a press by impact of the foot on a treadle. Labels: historical 14. To reset (a watchdog timer). Labels: transitive Example: In the meantime, it is possible for the embedded software to “kick” the watchdog timer, to reset its counter to the original large number. Example: From now on the process has to periodically kick the watchdog timer in intervals shorter than the initialization interval. 15. To reproach oneself for making a mistake or missing an opportunity. Labels: informal, reflexive Example: He's still kicking himself for not investing three years ago.