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kicking off

verb

present participle of kick off
1
as in beginning
to take the first step in (a process or course of action) I'll kick off the discussion on ethics with this question

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dying
slang to stop living surprisingly, the recluse was worth a cool million when he kicked off

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of kicking off The doughnut shop is also kicking off the start of the NFL season with a new Fall & Football Dozen. — Erin Clements, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2026 The start of the 2026-27 Premier League season is one week away, with the first game, Arsenal vs Coventry City, kicking off next Friday. — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026 The San Francisco 49ers begin their quest for a sixth Super Bowl title on Thursday, kicking off the 2026 preseason with a matchup against the Tennessee Titans at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. — Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026 That means kicking off with the sacred mountain where shamans perform mudang rituals, the spiritual tradition at the heart of the storyline, and then using that inspiration to step into the soundproof studio to put your vocal chops to the test. — Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 6 Aug. 2026 The new school year is closing in fast, which means the race to check off all of those academic necessities is kicking off now. — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 22 July 2026 On Sunday night, Hermès celebrated Into the Horsecape, its latest high jewelry collection (called haute bijouterie at Hermès), designed by Pierre Hardy, with a lavish dinner at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, kicking off the week. — Laure Guilbault, Vogue, 10 July 2026 France and Morocco are kicking off World Cup quarterfinals at Gillette Stadium — known as Boston Stadium during the 2026 tournament — on Thursday, July 9. — Erin Lassner, HollywoodReporter, 9 July 2026 Stop taking it, and the mimicry stops too, kicking off a fairly predictable chain of changes over the days and weeks that follow. — Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kicking off
  1. beginning
  2. dying
  3. commencing
  4. falling
  5. starting
  6. checking out
  7. getting off
  8. passing away
Verb
  • But Marcia was beginning to sound like Marcia on the page, Marcia in those essays that both excited and infuriated her readers.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026
  • During the study session, City Clerk Sherri Gard recommended the group seek legal counsel before beginning a signature-gathering effort.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of beginning
Verb
  • The courageous woman at the center of that series survived long enough to give a dying statement, in the hope that her testimony would set a precedent and make the world safer for others.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Co-creators Greg Daniels and Michael Koman spun the Peacock series out of the universe of The Office, transferring Oscar Nuñez’s accountant Oscar, as well as the general vibe of workplace drudgery, to a dying Toledo newspaper.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of dying
Verb
  • The program picked four international applicants out of nearly 1,000 for a six-month fellowship commencing this month in London along with a cash prize of £10,000 ($13,480) each.
    — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • This week, London’s Serpentine Galleries announced the launch of a six-month fellowship program, commencing in September, that will award four artists working with artificial intelligence grants of £10,000.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of commencing
Verb
  • The key to why scores are falling so widely may be found in an accompanying survey taken by students.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Volatility tends to ease in November, with the VIX falling around 4% as the midterm results remove a key political overhang and provide investors with greater clarity on the policy backdrop, said James Ooi, market strategist at Tiger Brokers.
    — Joanna Ossinger,Justina Lee, CNBC, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of falling
Verb
  • Kevin Danso, who closed the season as his starting centre-back, and Cristian Romero have been replaced in the starting line-up by Jan Paul van Hecke, a classy but less physically dominant defender than the outgoers.
    — Elias Burke, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • But just as at any school, the students are then split into many more subcultures, starting with those in the co-ops—student-run living and dining communities that essentially stand in for Greek life.
    — Jesse Dougherty, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of starting
Verb
  • All the deals over at Dell are worth checking out right now, but especially the Alienware 16 Aurora laptop.
    — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 8 Sep. 2026
  • I'mPhaedra Trethan, checking out my colleague Trevor Hughes' Mad Max-Dune-steampunk visions from Burning Man.
    — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of checking out
Verb
  • One of the most common routes to the Camp Nou from the city centre involves getting off at Les Corts station.
    — Pol Ballús, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Video shows the officer performing a traffic break to stop vehicles before getting off his motorcycle and walking toward the center median.
    — Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of getting off
Verb
  • Her sister had been through cervical cancer and two bouts of breast cancer before passing away from the disease.
    — Ayren Jackson-Cannady, SELF, 29 May 2026
  • As well as the uncertainty of being in the final year of his contract, the France international also had to deal with the personal anguish of his father Hamady passing away in January.
    — James Pearce, New York Times, 28 May 2026
Definition of passing away

Browse Nearby Words

kicking in
kicking off
kicking out
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Cite this Entry

“Kicking off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kicking%20off. Accessed 16 Sep. 2026.

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