kicking

Pluralkickings (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of kick.

   Kicking up clouds of dust, the herd thundered across the plain.

   The diver kept kicking steadily toward the surface.

   Note

   Every meaning of the verb passes through this form: kicking a ball, kicking a user from a chat, kicking a habit. As a gerund it keeps the verb's direct object (kicking one's opponent). That separates it from the action noun, which takes of and can even be pluralized as kickings.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act of striking out with a foot or leg.

   His wild kicking knocked over the lamp beside the couch.

   The steady kicking of the swimmers churned the surface of the pool.

   Similarthrashing, flailing

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A violent assault in which someone is struck repeatedly with the feet.

   The victim received a sustained kicking from a gang of attackers.

   Witnesses described a vicious kicking that left the man unconscious.

   Similarbeating, battering, thrashing, stomping

4. 4
   adjectiveslang

   Alive and active; still full of life and energy.

   Like an old engine that still starts up every single morning.

   Despite the rumors of bankruptcy, the company is alive and kicking.

   She's eighty-five and still very much alive and kicking.

   Similarwell, thriving, active

   Note

   The idiom does most of the work here: alive and kicking, or simply still kicking, said of someone still going strong at 89 or of a company that has outlived rumors of its collapse. Without still or alive, the adjective rarely carries this meaning on its own, so keep it inside those phrases. It is slang, though the fixed phrase is the most familiar use of the word.

5. 5
   adjectiveslang

   Excellent or impressive; (of clothes) smart and fashionable.

   She wore a kicking leather jacket to the premiere.

   The band delivered a kicking set that had everyone dancing.

   Similargreat, excellent, awesome, stylish, smart

   Note

   Slang uses it as loud approval, usually placed straight before the noun: a kicking pair of jeans, a kicking party. Applied to clothes it means stylish rather than merely good. Applied to anything else it is a general "great." It belongs to casual speech and reads oddly in formal writing, where excellent or fashionable does the same job.

6. 6
   adjectiveslang

   Lively, exciting, and still in full swing.

   The downtown club was absolutely kicking on Saturday night.

   The reunion was still kicking hours after dinner ended.

   Similarbuzzing, hopping, jumping, rocking, lively

   Oppositedead, quiet

   Note

   Here the subject is an event, not a person: a party, a club night, a reunion that is still going strong. It sits comfortably after the verb, as in the club was kicking, and readily takes an intensifier such as absolutely. Said of a person, the word slides toward the "still alive" meaning, so keep this one for places and occasions.

7. 7
   nounslangcountable

   A severe defeat or thrashing.

   The home side suffered a brutal kicking, losing by thirty points.

   They handed their rivals a real kicking last weekend.

   Similarthrashing, drubbing, hammering, beating, trouncing

   Note

   Figurative violence is borrowed from the physical assault here: the loser takes a kicking the way a victim does. It travels with give and take and is often intensified. The Guardian's 2015 Oscars coverage pictured a sweeping winner giving everything else a thoroughly good kicking. Licking is a close equivalent, and both are slang suited to talk of contests rather than formal reports.

8. 8
   noununcountable

   A performance art combining dance footwork, acrobatic moves, and martial-arts kicks, drawn from many disciplines and used in stage dance and fight choreography.

   The choreographer wove kicking into the climactic duel.

   He trained in kicking for years before performing on Broadway.

   Note

   Stage performers use the everyday word to name a trained craft: dancers and fight performers study kicking as a discipline in its own right. In this use it behaves as an uncountable noun (trained in kicking, never "a kicking"). That keeps it clearly apart from the assault, where a kicking is something one receives.

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