kicker

[ kik-er ]

/ ˈkɪk ər /

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noun

a person or thing that kicks.

Informal.

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.
a surprising change or turn of events: The kicker was that their friends knew it before they did.

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

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.

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

kickers, Slang. shoes, especially leisure shoes.

Nautical.

a small, low-powered outboard motor.
an auxiliary engine on a sailing vessel, river steamer, etc.

Slang. the alcoholic liquor in a mixed drink.

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.

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.

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

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Origin of kicker

First recorded in 1565–75; kick + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for kicker

The office-door stood wide open and the kickers were welcomed, as you might say, with open arms.
The Wreckers|Francis Lynde
He and Felton were two of Harvard's greatest punters, and both of them were leftfooted kickers.
Seeing Things at Night|Heywood Broun
Of course there were kickers, but those kind of people will be found everywhere.
An American Hobo in Europe|Ben Goodkind
There's kickers and biters and shirks amongst them; but if they won't learn and can't learn, they get 'condemned.'
The Cup of Trembling and Other Stories|Mary Hallock Foote

This is particularly noticeable in cases where the parts are regularly and repeatedly injured as in habitual kickers.
Lameness of the Horse|John Victor Lacroix

British Dictionary definitions for kicker

kicker

/ (ˈkɪkə) /

noun

a person or thing that kicks

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

US and Canadian slang a hidden and disadvantageous factor, such as a clause in a contract

informal any light outboard motor for propelling a boat

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

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

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kicker

noun

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Origin of kicker

Example sentences from the Web for kicker

British Dictionary definitions for kicker

noun

MEANINGS

WORD GAMES

LEARN

WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY

kicker

noun

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!

Origin of kicker

Words related to kicker

Example sentences from the Web for kicker

British Dictionary definitions for kicker

noun