kick off

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kick off (third-person singular simple present kicks off, present participle kicking off, simple past and past participle kicked off)

1. (transitive, intransitive) 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. (transitive, intransitive, idiomatic) To start; to launch.

   Synonym: start off

   Coordinate term: set off

   Let's kick off this project with a planning meeting.

   The project kicked off with an energy-sapping meeting.

   • 2013 August 19, Louise Taylor, “English talent gets left behind as Premier League keeps importing”, in The Guardian‎:

     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.

   • 2019 July 13, Nosheen Iqbal, “Extinction Rebellion kick off weekend of protest with Dalston blockade”, in The Observer‎:

     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.

   • 2022 August 1, Off the Leash, Darwin, NT, page 6, column 1:

     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[.]

3. (transitive) To dismiss; to expel; to remove from a position.

   Coordinate term: kick out

   I got kicked off the team after a string of poor performances

4. (intransitive, US, idiomatic, colloquial, euphemistic) To die or quit permanently.

   It's a wonder that old dog hasn't kicked off yet.

5. (intransitive, US, idiomatic) 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. (intransitive, idiomatic) To suddenly become more active.

   Coordinate term: flare up

   The party kicked off when the third bottle of wine was opened.

   • 2007, Robert Ortiz, A Walking Distance, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 177:

     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.

7. (transitive, US, idiomatic, ranching, slang) 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. (intransitive, UK, idiomatic, colloquial) To be overcome with anger, to start an argument or a fight.

   When she called him a drunk, it was the last straw. He just kicked off.

   • 2024 April 17, “Rural railways: do they deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1007, page 57:

     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?

9. (intransitive, UK, idiomatic, colloquial, impersonal) To have a fight or argument start.

   It really kicked off in town when the team lost.

   • 2010, Kenny Sansom, To Cap It All, John Blake Publishing, →ISBN:

     Suddenly it all kicked off on the terraces as horrendous violence and disgraceful scenes were picked up by television cameras.