kicking
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
The verb to kick.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kikingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɪkɪŋ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The action of the verb to kick.
A violent assault involving repeated kicks.
adjective
slang
Alive, active (especially in the phrase alive and kicking).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The action of the verb to kick.
Used this way, kicking is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Drive or propel with the foot.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A player who kicks the football.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A kick in which the ball is placed on the ground before kicking.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Punishment inflicted by kicking the victim in the behind.
Cause to rise by kicking.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.