kickoff
Americannoun
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Football. a place kick or a drop kick from the 40-yard line of the team kicking at the beginning of the first and third periods or after the team kicking has scored a touchdown or field goal.
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Soccer. a kick that puts a stationary ball into play from the center line of the field at the start of a quarter or after a goal has been scored.
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the initial stage of something; start; beginning.
the campaign kickoff.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of kickoff
First recorded in 1855–60; noun use of verb phrase kick off
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:
And Messi found himself with precious little to work with—in the first 15 minutes, he had touched the ball just once on the opening kickoff.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
South Korea group-stage match, it was apparent that the neighborhood would be unrecognizable by kickoff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
“It would mean the world” if Mexico won, 32-year-old Reek Fernandez told me at Chapter One before kickoff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
The stadium has no air conditioning and the heat index at kickoff was expected to hit 100F.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
At the kickoff, hundreds of purple and gold balloons dreamily floated into the sweet, gorgeous night.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Shipley also returned four punts or kickoffs for touchdowns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2026
He has made 11 of 13 field goals and kicked 93% of his kickoffs for touchbacks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025
That first season, the percentage of touchbacks on kickoffs plummeted because kickers couldn’t boot the ball as far.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Karty, who has been masterful at dropping hard-to-handle knuckleball kickoffs into the landing zone, also misplaced a kick that gave the 49ers the ball at the 40-yard line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025
I’d been at campaign kickoffs, fund-raisers, and election-night parties.
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.
