kickoff

kick·off | \ ˈkik-ˌȯf

How to pronounce kickoff (audio)

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Definition of kickoff

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a kick that puts the ball into play in a football or soccer game the opening kickoff

2 : the start of something : commencement the campaign kickoff

kick off

kicked off; kicking off; kicks off

Definition of kick off (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to start or resume play in football by a placekick

2a : to initiate proceedings

b : to start out : begin the movie kicks off with a bank robbery

3 slang : die

transitive verb

: to mark the beginning of kick off the campaign

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Examples of kickoff in a Sentence

Noun At his campaign kickoff, the senator gave a passionate speech about combating poverty. His speech marked the kickoff of his campaign. Verb I'll kick off the discussion on ethics with this question. surprisingly, the recluse was worth a cool million when he kicked off

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The 49ers even fumbled the ensuing kickoff and never got another snap to work with. — Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Ranking the seven playoff clashes between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers," 14 Jan. 2020 On the ensuing kickoff, Texans return man DeAndre Carter had the ball pop loose and into the arms of Darwin Thompson, whose return set up a second Mahomes-to-Kelce touchdown in a matter of seconds. — Dave Skretta, BostonGlobe.com, "Chiefs overcome 24-point deficit to blow out Texans," 12 Jan. 2020 On the ensuing kickoff, Texans return man DeAndre Carter had the ball pop loose and into the arms of Darwin Thompson, whose return set up a second Mahomes-to-Kelce touchdown in a matter of seconds. — oregonlive, "NFL Playoffs 2020: Kansas City overcomes 24-point deficit and rolls past the Houston Texans in a Divisional Round playoff," 12 Jan. 2020 On the ensuing kickoff, Daniel Sorensen forced a DeAndre Carter fumble at the 24, and Darwin Thompson scooped the ball up and returned it to the Texans' 6. — Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, "Chiefs rally to historic comeback against Texans, return to AFC Championship Game," 12 Jan. 2020 On the ensuing kickoff, Hardman showed why he was voted a Pro Bowl return specialist, taking it back 104 yards for a touchdown that restored the Chiefs’ lead. — Dave Skretta, The Denver Post, "Chiefs top Chargers to earn No. 2 seed in AFC, first-round bye," 29 Dec. 2019 Brown returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to jump-start Central Michigan’s comeback. — Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, "LendingTree Bowl Countdown: Central Michigan edges Troy in double overtime," 28 Dec. 2019 On the ensuing kickoff, senior returner Dion Earls fumbled at his own 16-yard line. — Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, "‘Feels like death': Unbeaten Ferris State football implodes in Division II semifinals," 15 Dec. 2019 Earl Christy fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Ridlehuber returned it 2 yards for the clinching TD. — Steve Kroner, SFChronicle.com, "Raiders’ top games in Oakland? Here’s our list," 14 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Season 2 kicked off tonight with a kitchen and living room renovation for firefighter Travis, his wife Jamie, and their three sons. — Kelly Corbett, House Beautiful, "Christina on the Coast," 3 Jan. 2020 The new year kicked off with a bang for PC enthusiasts, as Tom’s Hardware published a long and fascinating article detailing their experiences inside Intel’s secretive overclocking lab in Portland, Oregon. — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, "Here's what Intel engineers use to push CPU overclocks to 11," 2 Jan. 2020 Planning kicks off when the designers on Schmale’s team begin brainstorming. — Hayley Glatter, Popular Mechanics, "The Tiny Technical Miracles Inside the World’s Largest Christmas Light Maze," 24 Dec. 2019 According to Rick Goldschmidt, the official historian of Rankin/Bass, the song’s popularity kicked off a chain reaction of coincidences and connections that played out during the early 1960s. — Michelle Delgado, Smithsonian Magazine, "The Magical Animation of ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’," 23 Dec. 2019 Chrissy Metz's outlook on weight-loss and body image continued to inspire you in 2019, as her hit NBC show, This Is Us (one of your favorites!), kicked off its fourth season. — Heather Finn, Good Housekeeping, "The 35 Stories Our Readers Were Most Excited About This Year," 22 Dec. 2019 That kicked off a legal tussle that cost Emile attorney fees and five more years — all while his mother’s reverse mortgage continued to accrue fees and twice switched loan servicers when banks sold the loan. — Nick Penzenstadler, USA Today, "As reverse mortgages end, heirs are left with heartache," 19 Dec. 2019 According to a university press release, the project kicked off last month. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Undersea ‘Hotels’ Deployed to Help Sydney’s Endangered Seahorses," 16 Dec. 2019 The two-day Gadhimai festival kicked off at a Hindu temple in Bariyarpur, located about 80 miles south of Kathmandu, with the ceremonial slaughter of a goat, rat, chicken, pig and pigeon, according to news reports. — Fox News, "Nepal’s animal sacrifice festival, known as ‘world’s bloodiest,’ gets underway after ‘ban’ ignored," 4 Dec. 2019

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

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Dictionary Entries near kickoff

kick off one's shoes

Statistics for kickoff

Last Updated

20 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Kickoff.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kick%20off. Accessed 22 January 2020.

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