kick over the traces

Idioms  

1. Break loose from restraint, misbehave. For example, There's always one child who'll kick over the traces as soon as the bell rings. This metaphoric expression alludes to the straps attaching a horse to a vehicle, which the animal sometimes gets a leg over in order to kick more freely and thereby refuse to move forward. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kick over the traces

That made voters kick over the traces again.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2022

But "Patrick" was only a persona, and there is a restlessness in Byrne that makes him kick over the traces.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 17, 2011

The horses that kick over the traces will have to be put in a corral.'

From Time Magazine Archive

I've no business to look at 'em; but when I come to town I just kick over the traces.

From In Apple-Blossom Time A Fairy-Tale to Date by Clara Louise Burnham

"Without you to back me up, Mr. Morton, I'm afraid some of the fellows might kick over the traces."

From The High School Captain of the Team Dick & Co. Leading the Athletic Vanguard by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock

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