Dictionary

kick off en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive) To make the first kick in a game or part of a game.
   • The players kick off for the third quarter and the clock starts.
2. (ambitransitive, idiomatic) To start; to launch; to set in motion.
   • To kick it all off, there's a street parade through the Todd Mall, followed by a full-day of competitions with a lolly scramble for the kids[.] 2022 August 1, Off the Leash, Darwin, NT, page 6, column 1:
   • The project kicked off with an energy-sapping meeting.
   • Let's kick off this project with a planning meeting.
   • On Saturday the group kicked off a weekend of activity ahead of its summer uprising this week, which aims to disrupt five major UK cities and shock people into action against the climate crisis. 2019 July 13, Nosheen Iqbal, “Extinction Rebellion kick off weekend of protest with Dalston blockade”, in The Observer:
   • Not since Coventry in 1992 has a Premier League side kicked off a campaign with an all-English XI but things have reached the point where, of the 61 signings who have cost the elite division's 20 clubs a transfer fee this summer, only 12 have involved Englishmen. 2013 August 19, Louise Taylor, “English talent gets left behind as Premier League keeps importing”, in The Guardian:
3. (transitive) To dismiss; to expel; to remove from a position.
   • I got kicked off the team after a string of poor performances
4. (US, colloquial, euphemistic, idiomatic, intransitive) To die or quit permanently.
   • It's a wonder that old dog hasn't kicked off yet.
5. (US, idiomatic, intransitive) To shut down or turn off suddenly.
   • The washer was working fine until it kicked off in the middle of a cycle.
   • The circuit breaker, a power failure, and the e-stop button are the only things we can think of that might have caused that pump to kick off when it did.
6. (idiomatic, intransitive) To suddenly become more active.
   • The party kicked off when the third bottle of wine was opened.
   • I understood that I was missing out on a lot of his life and if the war really kicked off I was going to be gone for an even longer amount of time. 2007, Robert Ortiz, A Walking Distance, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 177:
7. (US, idiomatic, qualifier:ranching, slang, transitive) To force the weaning of a bovine cow's calf by restricting the calf's access to its mother's udders, whether by literally kicking it away or another method.
   • A week after we kicked off her calf that cow was still bawling.
8. (UK, colloquial, idiomatic, intransitive) To be overcome with anger, to start an argument or a fight; to behave aggressively.
   • When she called him a drunk, it was the last straw. He just kicked off.
   • The chap opposite seems to be trying to pull a fast one, and having seen the guard is trying to buy a ticket online... but doesn't succeed. The guard helpfully sells him one, but not quite at the price of one purchased in advance. In fairness he doesn't kick off, nor does the guard treat him like some common criminal. It's a fair cop - or should that be a fare cop? 2024 April 17, “Rural railways: do they deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1007, page 57:
9. (colloquial, idiomatic, impersonal, intransitive) To have a fight or argument start; to fight or argue.
   • Suddenly it all kicked off on the terraces as horrendous violence and disgraceful scenes were picked up by television cameras. 2010, Kenny Sansom, To Cap It All, John Blake Publishing, →ISBN:
   • It really kicked off in town when the team lost.

Forms

Coordinates

set off · flare up · kick out

Deriveds

kickoff · kick-off

Synonyms

start off

Translations (43)

de abgehen (to have an argument start) · fr barder (to have an argument start) · pl rozpocząć (to start) · de aussteigen (to shut down suddenly) · pl rozpoczynać (to start) · de ins Rollen kommen (to suddenly become more active) · de ausfallen (to shut down suddenly) · pl wybuchnąć (to be overcome with anger) · pl rozkręcać się (to suddenly become more active) · de ausrasten (to be overcome with anger) · pl wykopać (to dismiss) · de antreten (to make the first kick in a game) · pl kłócić się (to have an argument start) · de loslegen (to suddenly become more active) · hu kirúg (to dismiss) · pl wykonywać pierwszy kop (to make the first kick in a game) · pl zacinać się (to shut down suddenly) · de anstoßen (to make the first kick in a game) · pl pokłócić się (to have an argument start) · de abgehen (to suddenly become more active) · pl wybuchać (to be overcome with anger) · de anfangen (to start) · de ausschließen (to dismiss) · pl ściąć się (to shut down suddenly) · pl zaczynać (to start) · de abtreten (to die or quit) · pl kopnąć w kalendarz (to die or quit) · pl odsadzać od wymion (restricting the calf's access to its mother's udders) · pl zaciąć się (to shut down suddenly) · pl stracić panowanie nad sobą (to be overcome with anger) · de in Fahrt kommen (to suddenly become more active) · de absetzen (restricting the calf's access to its mother's udders) · pl ścinać się (to shut down suddenly) · pl tracić panowanie nad sobą (to be overcome with anger) · pl wykopywać (to dismiss) · pl rozkręcić się (to suddenly become more active) · pl wykonać pierwszy kop (to make the first kick in a game) · de anspielen (to make the first kick in a game) · pl odsadzić od wymion (restricting the calf's access to its mother's udders) · fr dégénérer (to have an argument start) · fr craquer (to be overcome with anger) · pl zacząć (to start) · de rauswerfen (to dismiss)