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kick-start

American  
[kik-stahrt] / ˈkɪkˌstɑrt /
Or kickstart

verb (used with object)

  1. to start by means of a kick starter.

    to kick-start a motorcycle.
kick-start British  
/ ˈkɪkˌstɑːt /

verb

  1. to start (a motorcycle engine) by means of a pedal that is kicked downwards

  2. informal to make (something) active, functional, or productive again

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. an action or event resulting in the reactivation of something

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • kick-starter noun

Etymology

Origin of kick-start

First recorded in 1910–15

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.