kick in

verb

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of kick in

transitive verb

: contribute

intransitive verb

1 : to begin operating or having an effect : get started

waiting for the heater to kick in

2 : to make a contribution

3 slang : die

See kick in defined for kids

Examples of kick in in a Sentence

if everyone in the department kicks in, we can give him an especially nice present for his retirement
the ornery cuss finally kicked in at the ripe old age of 90

Recent Examples of kick in from the Web

Fifteen minutes later in Uptown, a 23-year-old woman was kicked in the back and robbed of her purse by a man in the 2200 block of Jefferson Avenue.

— hanna krueger, NOLA.com, "5 Wednesday afternoon robberies in New Orleans bring April total to 35," 12 Apr. 2018
Backup generators at the island's main public hospital and international airport kicked in following Thursday's outage.

— CBS News, "Power outage in Puerto Rico leaves hundreds of thousands without electricity," 12 Apr. 2018
Saric was kicked in the mouth after fouling Hawks power forward John Collins 13 seconds into the game.

— keith pompey, Philly.com, "Update: Sixers' Dario Saric available against Milwaukee Bucks," 11 Apr. 2018
The events described in the Iliad only kick in around episode four.

— alex ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Troy: Fall of a City' Producer on Homer, Wooden Horses and Potential for Season 2," 9 Apr. 2018
The Republican National Committee has kicked in nearly $324,000; the NRCC has spent another $113,000, mainly for TV ads.

— ronald j. hansen, azcentral, "Who will replace Trent Franks? Democrats aiming for an upset in Arizona special election," 8 Apr. 2018
The first kicks in when a driver launches the Uber (or Lyft) app.

— The Economist, "Insurance and the gig economy," 5 Apr. 2018
Owner Dan Gilbert kicked in $5 million to make those trades bringing Nance, Hill, Clarkson and Hood to the Cavs work.

— terry pluto, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Cavaliers Scribbles: Feeling upbeat as playoffs approach -- Terry Pluto (video)," 3 Apr. 2018
Under their deal with the city, the Warriors are kicking in $19 million.

— matier & ross, San Francisco Chronicle, "Muni Metro stop at Warriors’ new SF arena is one pricey platform," 2 Apr. 2018

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