kickback

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kickback

  • /ˈkɪkbæk/

Where it comes from

Deverbal from kick back.

noun kickbacks · kick-back · kick back

  1. countable A backward kick; a retrograde movement of an extremity. Kickbacks work the triceps muscle at the back of your arm. Exercising these muscles helps eliminate arm jiggle.
  2. countable, informal A covert, often illegal, payment in return for a favor consisting of providing an opportunity of chargeable transaction; especially, a kind of quid pro quo in which if you (an insider) secretly help me (an outsider) win the bid for the contract then I will secretly send you a portion of the contract value; thus, a kind of bribe. Central to his [Yury Skuratov's] investigation were kickbacks supposedly paid by a Swiss construction company for contracts to restore government buildings, including both houses of parliament.
  3. uncountable Recoil; a sudden backward motion, usually in the direction of the operator.
  4. countable An accident where an object being cut by a rotating blade or disk, such as a circular saw, is caught by the blade and thrown outward.
  5. countable, uncountable An accident wherein the upper tip of the bar of a running chainsaw contacts a relatively immovable object, forcing the bar upwards and pressing the running chain more firmly against the object, causing the saw to be hurled upwards and backwards into the operator's face.
  6. countable, uncountable A dangerous buildup of gas pressure at the wellhead.
  7. countable The board separating one bowling lane from another at the pit end.
  8. uncountable In contract bridge, an ace asking convention initiated by the first step above four of the agreed trump suit.
  9. countable, uncountable A feature that saves the ball from draining and propels it back into play. We've come a long way since then. The progeny of that nail have been bent and twisted into what we all know and love as roll overs, kickbacks, and thumper-bumpers.
  10. countable, uncountable A relaxed party.

    Similar: kicker

Translations

Every language

noun covert payment in return for a favor

日本語キックバック kikkubakku
中文回扣 huíkòu
Françaisrétrocommission
Deutschverdeckte Rückvergütung, Retrozession, Kickback, Kick-back, Kick-Back
Italianocontraccolpo, sconto, abbuono, tangente, bustarella, mazzetta
Русскийотка́т otkát

noun sudden backward motion; recoil

DeutschRückschlag
Русскийотка́т otkát

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MLA

"kickback." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/kickback. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

kickback. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/kickback

Chicago

"kickback." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/kickback.

BibTeX
@misc{kickback_2026,
  title = {kickback},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/kickback},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}