1
as in to debate
to give serious and careful thought to
the board spent the afternoon kicking around the feasibility of opening an overseas office
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to play
to spend time in aimless activity
I really can't do much but kick around at work until I get the rest of the submissions
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to kill time
to spend time doing nothing
spent the afternoon kicking around, while his wife bought out the mall
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4
as in to roam
to move about from place to place aimlessly
after spending a year in Europe kicking around, the backpacker was ready to return home
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5
as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
children who were raised by an alcoholic father who regularly kicked them around
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of kick around
The idea of seriously designing an expedition to put astronauts on Mars has been kicking around for well over 70 years and is taken very seriously in certain quarters today.
—
David Szondy
july 21, New Atlas, 21 July 2025
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, while certainly no fan of Hezbollah, also doesn't want to be seen as getting kicked around by the Israelis and has a domestic political incentive to not roll over in negotiations.
—Daniel R. Depetris, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
In the event of an attack, poke at its eyes, and punch and kick around its face and head.
—Diamond Walker, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2025
The best case scenario would probably be if Congress reasserts its authority over trade through some of the bills that are kicking around on Capitol Hill.
—Lauren Hirsch, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for kick around
David Szondy
july 21, New Atlas, 21 July 2025
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, while certainly no fan of Hezbollah, also doesn't want to be seen as getting kicked around by the Israelis and has a domestic political incentive to not roll over in negotiations.
—Daniel R. Depetris, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
In the event of an attack, poke at its eyes, and punch and kick around its face and head.
—Diamond Walker, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2025
The best case scenario would probably be if Congress reasserts its authority over trade through some of the bills that are kicking around on Capitol Hill.
—Lauren Hirsch, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for kick around
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kick around
Verb
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The students in the club participated in National History Day, a competition where students present a topic of their interest, and the YMCA Youth and Government Program’s Model Legislative Session, where students debate bills at the Arizona Capitol.—
Erick Trevino,
AZCentral.com,
7 Sep. 2025
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Trials make disputes public, and jury trials allow citizens to debate the issues and return verdicts that reflect their community.—
Richard Lorren Jolly,
The Conversation,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Fashion and sociology experts say that, when examining the significance of any bold fashion statement such as Robbie's, context plays an important role.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
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The Yankees played an integral part in the remembrance of 9/11.—
Ross O'Keefe,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Some of the most notable included the iconic bell tower, the central fountain, the roaming pack of feral cats, and the massive gingko trees that loomed over a section of the academic quad and carpeted the sidewalks with golden leaves each fall.—
Katherine Polcari,
Southern Living,
6 Sep. 2025
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In its world, resurrected mammoths roam, AI governs underground facilities, and human-animal hybrids embody both triumph and ambiguity.—
Charlie Fink,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Commission said Google’s market power has been abused since 2014.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Sep. 2025
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Moore previously served as the defense attorney for Louise and David Turpin, the California couple who abused and imprisoned their 13 children and dependent adults in a 'house of horrors' for years.—
Chris Spargo,
PEOPLE,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But Lecornu has run into some controversy in the past for entertaining far-right leader Marine Le Pen at a secret dinner to discuss Ukraine last year.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
10 Sep. 2025
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Alongside the rise of YouTube Golf, a number of entertaining golf podcasts now exist — so this threesome has their work cut out for them.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Gisin hopes that by fooling around with measurements of these more exotic states, physicists will come to better understand the role of measurement in general.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
8 Aug. 2025
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Those have come from two players: Adrian Morejon of the San Diego Padres, who throws an odd knuckleball-changeup hybrid about 1 percent of the time, and Jonah Bride of the Minnesota Twins, an infielder fooling around with the knuckler in blowouts.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
19 June 2025
Verb
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Her task now is simply to wander, wait and listen.—
Ari Daniel,
NPR,
10 Sep. 2025
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Despite its common name, this creature wasn’t simply a lion that wandered into the Americas.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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That same year the Clippers and Aspiration signed deals that contemplated a $300 million partnership for Aspiration to sponsor the Clippers’ arena and the team’s jersey patch.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
5 Sep. 2025
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The film’s title carries particular significance for Yoon, who has been contemplating it for 15 years.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kick around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kick%20around. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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