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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to kill time
to spend time doing nothing
spent the afternoon kicking around, while his wife bought out the mall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of kick around
Last week, the Sixers started kicking around the idea of having George back in the mix soon.
—
Justin Grasso, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Nov. 2025
One idea some appropriators are kicking around is a December funding deadline, but not one that bumps against Christmas, as has become standard.
—Al Weaver, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2025
So of course, there’s things kicking around in my head with this show.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Nov. 2025
According to Hamel, who shared a demonstration of the lifelike robot earlier this year, Somers had been kicking around the idea for decades with inventor Ray Kurzweil.
—Karu F Daniels, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for kick around
Justin Grasso, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Nov. 2025
One idea some appropriators are kicking around is a December funding deadline, but not one that bumps against Christmas, as has become standard.
—Al Weaver, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2025
So of course, there’s things kicking around in my head with this show.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Nov. 2025
According to Hamel, who shared a demonstration of the lifelike robot earlier this year, Somers had been kicking around the idea for decades with inventor Ray Kurzweil.
—Karu F Daniels, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for kick around
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kick around
Verb
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Opposite a serene Rooney Mara and a raging Claire Foy, Buckley is a lone dissenting voice in Sarah Polley’s heart-wrenching portrait of a group of women and girls in an isolated Mennonite colony who are debating how to respond to a series of brutal attacks from the men in their community.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
12 Jan. 2026
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The band was the first to sanction fan taping at their concerts, spawning an abundance of homespun recordings that have been collected, traded and debated for decades.—
Erin Osmon,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Peat fit in well with Arizona’s veteran lineup, as the freshman didn’t force the issue and played within the offense.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 Jan. 2026
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Guys were playing hard, everybody on that drive was doing their job, and getting guys down on the ground.—
Mike Kaye
Updated January 11,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Plucked off the staff of then-Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, who is currently in Atlanta with the Hawks, Skeeter is someone Hornets fans see roaming in front of Charlotte’s bench quite often.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Jan. 2026
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More than 200 years ago, bison roamed freely across Illinois, but as the industrial revolution reshaped the landscape, the bison disappeared.—
Marissa Perlman,
CBS News,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The pair also pretended that Tammy was allegedly abusing them.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
9 Nov. 2025
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In handing down the sentence, Montenegro said Bonillo understood the scope of his misdeeds, abused his position of trust and used that position to enrich himself while undermining CBP’s main goal.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Washington Post food critic Elazar Sontag entertains your restaurant questions, rants and raves.—
Elazar Sontag,
Washington Post,
14 Jan. 2026
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In The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Mirren played Georgia, the wife of crime boss Albert Spica (Michael Gambon), who comes to La Hollandaise to be entertained every night.—
Diane J. Cho,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
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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Still, much of the time Froud was content, wandering the set after just learning to walk, unfazed by the elaborate production around him.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
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That morning, in a new suburb of Glendale, three-year-old Kelly Keen wandered, unattended, out of her house and into the driveway.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But the new documents show that the school has been contemplating the possibility of a move for more than a year.—
Ben Bolch,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Jan. 2026
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After contemplating very deeply and carefully for many long hours attempting to discern a plausible alternative explanation for the rhetoric and the policies, what is the only thing that a reasonable person can conclude?—
Rafael Perez,
Oc Register,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Kick around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kick%20around. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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