Kick Meaning
/kɪk/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.
verbTo make a sharp jerking movement of the leg, as to strike something.
Sentence Examples
You can't kick me around any more.
Kick with your legs straight to go forward.
The first kick of the game
CEFR Practice Quiz
He raised his leg and used his foot to ____ the soccer ball into the goal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The boy gave the ball a hard ____, and it flew across the playground and landed in the tall grass.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"Will Henderson, who had on a light overcoat and no overshoes, kicked the heel of his left foot with the toe of the right."
— 1919, Sherwood Anderson, “The Teacher: concerning Kate Swift”, in Winesburg, Ohio:
"Or to put it in the more colourful language of our Prime Minister: "The secret to improving rail transport, in my view, is you need to find the right arse to kick." Unfortunately, since the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in 2005, the DfT has ostensibly been in direct control of railway policy setting, and this has meant that the only arse the government has been able to kick is its own."
— 2020 September 9, Jason Chamberlain, “The growing likelihood of a 'different type of railway'”, in Rail, page 45:
"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:
"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:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He raised his leg and used his foot to ____ the soccer ball into the goal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The boy gave the ball a hard ____, and it flew across the playground and landed in the tall grass.