kick around

verb

kicked around; kicking around; kicks around

intransitive verb

1

: to wander or pass time aimlessly

2

a

: to lie about mostly unnoticed or forgotten

b

: to undergo consideration usually intermittently over a period of time

ideas that have been kicking around for years

transitive verb

1

: to treat in an inconsiderate or high-handed fashion

2

: to consider, examine, or discuss from various angles

Synonyms of kick around

• debate
• entertain
• contemplate
• consider
• ponder
• study
• question
• eye
• chew on
• think (about or over)
• explore
• look at
• weigh
• wrestle (with)
• mull (over)

Examples of kick around in a Sentence

the board spent the afternoon kicking around the feasibility of opening an overseas office

I really can't do much but kick around at work until I get the rest of the submissions.

Recent Examples on the Web

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask Laneige’s Lip Sleeping Mask has been kicking around Allure editors’ nightstands for years, and judging by its 2025 Readers’ Choice Award, plenty of you are just as hooked. — Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 6 Oct. 2026

Since then, he’s kicked around with HAIM while turning one third of its Los Angelino triumvirate, Alana Haim, into a screen actress. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2026

The Phillies at least need to kick around the idea of trading one of them. — Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Jac Schaeffer, that show's creator, was scheduled to helm this follow-up as well before bowing out of the Marvel machine, and VisionQuest has been kicking around in development for a bit. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 28 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Rhymes for kick around

• aboveground
• battleground
• belowground
• paperbound
• turnaround
• ultrasound
• underground
• wraparound
• abound
• aground
• astound
• background