English

Verb

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

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

   • 2013, Louise Taylor, English talent gets left behind as Premier League keeps importing (in The Guardian, 20 August 2013)

     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.

3. To dismiss; to expel; to remove from a position.

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

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

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

5. (idiomatic) To shut down or turn off suddenly.

   The washer was working fine until it kicked off in the middle of a cycle.‎

6. (idiomatic) To suddenly become more active.

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

   • 2007, Robert Ortiz, A Walking Distance, AuthorHouse (ISBN 9781434325600), 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. (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. Used figuratively or literally.

   A week after we kicked off her calf that cow was still bawling.‎

8. (Britain, 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.‎

9. (Britain, 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 9781843586920)

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