Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

kick

 - definition
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing.These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are morefrequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
verb British English pronunciation: kick /kɪk/ 
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theykick
he/she/itkicks
present participlekicking
past tensekicked
past participlekicked
  1. 1
    [intransitive/transitive] to hit someone or something with your foot

    Mum! Jimmy kicked me!

    Some children will bite and kick when they get angry.

    kick something to/towards/away from someone/something:

    He kicked the bottle towards the bin and missed.

    kick something open/closed/shut:

    Southgate kicked the door open.

    kick someone in the stomach/face/head etc:

    She felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  kickThesaurus entry for this meaning of kick
    1. a.
      to hit a ball with your foot in a game such as football

      the pleasure of kicking a ball across a stretch of grass

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  kickThesaurus entry for this meaning of kick
  2. 2
    [intransitive/transitive] to move your legs as if you were kicking something

    Take your baby’s nappy off and let her kick a bit.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  kickThesaurus entry for this meaning of kick
  3. 3
    [transitive] informal to stop doing something that is bad for you

    Amanda has finally managed to kick smoking.

    kick the habit:

    Do you smoke and want to kick the habit?

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  kickThesaurus entry for this meaning of kick
  4. 4
    [transitive] to hit a horse’s sides with your heels in order to make it move forward

    Flora kicked her horse into a canter.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  kickThesaurus entry for this meaning of kick

phrases

See also

This is the British English definition of kick. View American English definition of kick.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 

showmance

a romantic relationship between two members of the cast of a play, film or television series

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

soapstone

a type of soft stone that is often carved to make decorations

Open Dictionary

human-readable

able to be read and understood by people

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog