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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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 for the interborough rail has been kicking around in one form or another for the better part of 30 years.
—
Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 1 Aug. 2025
Their collaboration goes back to their days at NYU, when the roommates would kick around ideas for Sandler’s stand-up act.
—William Earl, Variety, 25 July 2025
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
The hot mid-morning sun beamed down on children stomping around a splash pad, a group of boys kicking around a soccer ball and dozens of adults competing in recreational softball games.
—Mia Thurow, jsonline.com, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for kick around
Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 1 Aug. 2025
Their collaboration goes back to their days at NYU, when the roommates would kick around ideas for Sandler’s stand-up act.
—William Earl, Variety, 25 July 2025
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
The hot mid-morning sun beamed down on children stomping around a splash pad, a group of boys kicking around a soccer ball and dozens of adults competing in recreational softball games.
—Mia Thurow, jsonline.com, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for kick around
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kick around
Verb
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Kirk was a prolific podcaster, known for debating and defending his conservative, Christian values on the show.—
Stephanie Murray,
AZCentral.com,
27 Sep. 2025
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Even if a dissenting perspective isn’t correct or better, dissent brings different views to the fore so that they can be debated, and that improves and sharpens arguments, options and outcomes.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Twin Cities,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Kirk played a pivotal role in helping Republicans close the gap among young voters in 2024.—
Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
27 Sep. 2025
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The Astros are now one game behind the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians, with two games to play.—
Jeff Fletcher,
Oc Register,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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However, this doesn’t mean that the chimps are roaming around intoxicated.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
27 Sep. 2025
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The bison roaming Yellowstone National Park, an elephant herd thundering across the African terrain in Tanzania or Botswana, a humpback whale breaching off the coast of Hawaii or Mexico.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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There were ugly scenes at the Bethpage golf course throughout yesterday’s second day of play as European players, McIlroy in particular, were routinely heckled and abused by rowdy fans, including while standing over shots.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
28 Sep. 2025
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The lawsuit further alleges that the airlines manipulated and abused the arrival rate system at DCA airport to force more arrivals per hour, despite knowing that doing so would reduce safety margins.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Scottish actor, best known for his role as the dashing Jamie Fraser on Starz’s Outlander, showcases his love of storytelling and entertaining with drinks that balance heritage and modern tastes in his new spirits guide The Cocktail Diaries.—
Sonal Dutt,
PEOPLE,
24 Sep. 2025
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During these years, as activists and scholars were trying to change the narrative about the role trauma plays in domestic killings, true crime was entertaining the public with them.—
John J. Lennon
September 24,
Literary Hub,
24 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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The moment-to-moment action is predicated on wandering the city, picking up little bits of information from people, and diving into Wild Zones to battle and capture more Pokémon.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
24 Sep. 2025
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Add in a 160-liter freshwater tank, diesel heat and hot water via Webasto, and the freedom to wander suddenly looks very comfortable.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In a Fox Business interview, Carr mentioned that the FTC is contemplating broadening its click-to-cancel rulemaking, asserting his disagreement with the previous administration’s approach to establishing the rule.—
Jordan Green,
Nashville Tennessean,
26 Sep. 2025
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Convenient scapegoat The council is widely considered unreformable because neither America nor Russia and China would ever contemplate giving up the veto privilege that gums up what could be an international peacekeeping organ.—
Andreas Kluth,
Mercury News,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kick around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kick%20around. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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