kick around

verb

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of kick 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

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 of kick around from the Web

The two met face-to-face nearly every year of the past three decades, kicking around ideas and collaborating on original research.

— ryan p. smith, Smithsonian, "The Memory of Stephen Hawking Endures in Bold Black Hole Research Efforts," 3 Apr. 2018
Why does Spielberg show thousands of Wade's fans stupidly kicking around in real life with headsets on, thus making this Google Glass-like future look particularly silly and thus not worth investing in?

— sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "Ready Player One’s film adaptation isn’t even good enough as a kids movie," 29 Mar. 2018
While dinosaurs and cavemen battle over lunch, an asteroid hits the earth, leaving a lava hot sphere that the cavemen kick around.

— katie walsh, Detroit Free Press, "Review: Delightful ‘Early Man’ mixes cavemen, soccer," 15 Feb. 2018
Are all of them new, or were some kicking around from your last album Redeemer of Souls or even earlier?

— joe lynch, Billboard, "Judas Priest on New Album 'Firepower,' Their 'Beatles Moment' & Being Out In Metal," 9 Mar. 2018
Cincinnati has one of the worst transit agencies in America for connecting people to jobs, and SORTA leaders have kicked around the idea of a transit tax to help fix the system.

— jason williams, Cincinnati.com, "PX: Fortune 500 CEOs, business leaders launch audit of SORTA. Will more money be found?," 19 Feb. 2018
When Teddy Bridgewater went down just before the 2016 season, one quarterback the Vikings kicked around as a trade possibility was Cincinnati’s AJ McCarron.

— albert breer, SI.com, "The 2018 Free Agency Crop Isn’t All That Great. Here’s Why It Will Be The Start of League Trend," 8 Mar. 2018
It was agreed upon that Philadelphia should not only be in the mix but probably be the leading candidate for his services, kicking around the idea of putting up a series of billboards in Philadelphia to that end.

— tom schad, USA TODAY, "#PhillyWantsLeBron: Company buys billboards in Cleveland to lure LeBron James to 76ers," 26 Feb. 2018
The idea of taking the top eight teams from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference and reseeding them 1-16 based on overall record is something that continues to get kicked around.

— chris fedor, cleveland.com, "LeBron James opposed to idea of NBA playoff reseeding," 21 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'kick around.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.