kick-start
Americanverb (used with object)
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kick-starts,
present (3rd person singular)
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kick-started,
past participle, past
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kick-starting
present participle
verb
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to start (a motorcycle engine) by means of a pedal that is kicked downwards
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informal to make (something) active, functional, or productive again
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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kick-startsimple
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kick-startssimple
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have kick-startedperfect
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has kick-startedperfect
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am kick-startingprogressive
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are kick-startingprogressive
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is kick-startingprogressive
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have been kick-startingperfect progressive
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has been kick-startingperfect progressive
Past
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kick-startedsimple
-
had kick-startedperfect
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was kick-startingprogressive
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were kick-startingprogressive
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had been kick-startingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of kick-start
First recorded in 1910–15
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.
See Examples For:
Meanwhile, clubs in the English Football League are finding they have to wait for those at the top to make their decisions to kick-start the market, even if plans are well in place.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
The move aims to boost lending as the government seeks to lure investment to kick-start the economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Development could help kick-start the market, but any benefit to Tesla would likely be measured in tens of thousands of cars annually, not hundreds of thousands.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
While AI has made it easier for some firms to automate tasks entry-level workers once did to kick-start their careers, the research found the uptick in youth unemployment predates AI making its way across industries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Maybe all hospitals should import groups of rabble-rousing punk rockers to kick-start the languishing patients’ hearts.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
That’s the day the U.S. and Iran plan to finalize a peace deal that ends the war and kick-starts nuclear negotiations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Despite Rousey hinting the fight may be the last of her storied career, Bidarian is hoping she kick-starts a new era for MMA.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Berlin-based eyewear brand Mykita kick-starts a sunglasses spring with new minimalist lens shapes and ultra-slender lightweight frames.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
Players occasionally receive tips via an in-game mail service, leading to a hyperlink or message board that kick-starts an investigation.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
He kick-starts the bike, revs the throttle, and then they’re ripping down the street, her red hair crackling like a wildfire behind them.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
The filing sets up the company to potentially go public as soon as this fall, though OpenAI—which kick-started the AI boom with the 2022 release of ChatGPT—said it hasn’t yet decided on timing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
OpenAI, which kick-started the artificial-intelligence boom with the 2022 release of ChatGPT, is officially preparing to stage an initial public offering that will test investor appetite for AI companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Fally Ipupa kick-started his career working with fellow Congolese heavyweight Koffi Olomidé three decades ago and today boasts millions of fans across the globe.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
The move kick-started his meteoric rise, propelling him from the fourth tier to the top flight in the space of a year.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2026
She didn’t know what her mother had found in the stacks, but it looked like something had kick-started her writing.
From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson
Part of that is kick-starting the kind of interest in soccer that briefly swept the country during the first U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
It was during the show’s “Snack Attack” segment when Oswalt dissed on food bowls, specifically calling out KFC for kick-starting such a heinous eating trend.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026
The Treasury Department announced Wednesday External link that five million children are now signed up for Trump accounts, the new investment vehicles aimed at kick-starting savings for young people.
From Barron's ● Apr. 15, 2026
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva recently urged Beijing to shift its economy away from investment and exports toward consumption, kick-starting a new source of growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
Barack looked out at the audience and into the TV cameras, and as if kick-starting some internal engine, he just smiled and began to roll.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
