Meanings
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1
verb
To hit something with your foot.
He kicked the ball into the net.
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2
noun
An act of hitting something with your foot.
She gave the ball a powerful kick.
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3
noun
A feeling of excitement or pleasure (informal).
He gets a real kick out of fast cars.
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4
verb
To stop doing something harmful, especially a habit.
It took him years to kick his smoking habit.
Thesaurus
Common collocations
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.