kick in
Britishverb
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(intr) to start or become activated
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informal (tr) to contribute
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Contribute one's share, as in We'll kick in half if you take care of the rest . [ Colloquial ; c. 1900]
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Also, kick off . Die, as in No one knows when he'll kick in , or He finally kicked off yesterday . [ Slang ; first half of 1900s] Also see kick the bucket .
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Begin to operate, as in Finally the motor kicked in and we could get started . This usage was first recorded in 1908.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But she told Franklin that she also wished to avoid the California income tax that would kick in the moment her salary hit $1 million.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
If you bought travel insurance, it may kick in, but it depends on your policy’s fine print.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
It has also made use of "fiscal drag" by freezing the thresholds at which higher tax rates kick in - meaning that as pay goes up, more earnings are taxed at higher rates.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026
The third, more severe, scenario is one in which financial conditions tighten in a meaningful way and vulnerabilities kick in, generating nonlinear behavior.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026
His mother was able to kick in $20,000 from her settlement, his three brothers kicked in $10,000 each of theirs.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
