kicker

[kik-er]

noun

1. a person or thing that kicks.

2. Informal.

   1. a disadvantageous point or circumstance, usually concealed or unnoticed.

      The tickets are free, but the kicker is that you have to wait in line for hours to get them.

   2. a surprising change or turn of events.

      The kicker was that their friends knew it before they did.

3. something extra, as an additional cost or gain; an added expense or financial incentive.

4. Draw Poker.,  a card, usually an ace or face card, held with a pair or three of a kind in the hope of drawing a matching card.

5. (in concrete construction) a low plinth at the base of a column.

6. Slang.,  kickers, shoes, especially leisure shoes.

7. Nautical.

   1. a small, low-powered outboard motor.

   2. an auxiliary engine on a sailing vessel, river steamer, etc.

8. Slang.,  the alcoholic liquor in a mixed drink.

9. Also called eyebrow, highline, overline, teaser. Printing, Journalism.,  a short line of copy set in a distinctive type above a headline and intended to call attention to it.

10. Metallurgy.,  a charge of high-carbon iron that produces a vigorous boil when charged into an open-hearth furnace containing slag and molten metal of lower carbon content.

11. Also called kicker light. Photography.,  a light source coming from the back and side of a subject and producing a highlight.

kicker

/ ˈkɪkə /

noun

1. a person or thing that kicks

2. sport a player in a rugby or occasionally a soccer team whose task is to attempt to kick conversions, penalty goals, etc

3. slang,  a hidden and disadvantageous factor, such as a clause in a contract

4. informal,  any light outboard motor for propelling a boat

5. poker the highest unpaired card in a hand, used to decide the outcome of an otherwise tied round

Word History and Origins

Origin of kicker¹

First recorded in 1565–75; kick + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Boniol, who won the Super Bowl as a kicker for the Cowboys, would douse them with water and toss them into the dryer.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The kicker, though, is that Bank of America data suggests the so-called Magnificent Seven tech stocks were responsible for around 80% of the October advance.

Read more on Barron's

But McVay said in retrospect that those problems stemmed more from the long-range situations he put the kickers in.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It is a tough life being a kicker in the NFL with the game often being on the line, so it is only right they get some praise when perfecting their craft.

Read more on BBC

And no team is winning a title without a competent kicker.

Read more on Los Angeles Times