kick-start

or kick·start

[ kik-stahrt ]

/ ˈkɪkˌstɑrt /

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verb (used with object)

to start by means of a kick starter: to kick-start a motorcycle.

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Origin of kick-start

First recorded in 1910–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use kick-start in a sentence

Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham made a sex tape to kickstart her career.
So You Want to be a Porn Star? Inside the Sex Tape Phenomenon|Aurora Snow|July 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And so on May 1, we launched an experiment to see whether we could kickstart at least half.
Our New SuperPAC Is Going to Change American Politics for $12 Million|Lawrence Lessig, Mark McKinnon|June 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I order a Belle Époque with Hapsburg Absinthe to kickstart the evening.
The Secret Speakeasies of Buenos Aires|Jeff Campagna|February 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That alone would kickstart a long overdue national conversation about the costs and benefits of prohibition.
Ending the War on Pot is Obama’s Last Chance for a Legacy|Nick Gillespie|January 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The online crowdfunding petition—helpfully named “Help Kickstart World War III!”
How to Kickstart World War III in Syria: A YouTube Parody Primer|Miranda Green|September 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for kick-start

kick-start

/ (ˈkɪkˌstɑːt) /

verb (tr)

to start (a motorcycle engine) by means of a pedal that is kicked downwards

informal to make (something) active, functional, or productive again

noun

an action or event resulting in the reactivation of something

Derived forms of kick-start

kick-starter, noun

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