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kicker

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kicker¹

  • /ˈkɪkɚ/ US
  • /ˈkɪkə/ UK

Rhymes with -ɪkə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From kick + -er.

noun kickers

  1. One who kicks.
  2. One who takes kicks.
  3. A placekicker: a player who kicks the football during free kicks, kick offs, field goals, and extra point tries.
  4. The kicking strap.
  5. informal An outboard motor.
  6. colloquial An unexpected situation, detail or circumstance, often unpleasant, serving as a punchline or clincher. John wants to climb the wall, but the kicker is that it is thirty feet tall.
  7. An enticement for investors, e.g. warranty added to the investment contract.
  8. An unpaired card which is part of a pair, two pair, or three of a kind poker hand. Jill's hand was two pair, aces and sevens, with a king kicker.
  9. Small text above a headline that indicates the topic of the story. Hammers are, in essence, reverse kickers. Instead of being set in smaller type like kickers, hammers are set in larger type than headlines.
  10. The last one or two paragraphs of a story.
  11. Synonym of lead-in (“start of photo caption”).

    Similar: lead-in

  12. A lighthearted or humorous item used to round off a news broadcast. […] international news and politics, and heavy on the light stuff: local news, entertainment and merry little kickers […]
  13. A device that periodically displaces a newspaper from the print production line, to aid in gathering the newspapers into fixed-size bundles. In a printing machine, the combination of a kicker mechanism for displacing a newspaper […]
  14. A launch ramp.
  15. slang The fermenting mass of fruit that is the basis of pruno, or "prison wine".

    Similar: motor

  16. informal A relaxed party.

    Similar: kickback

  17. A backlight positioned at an angle.

    Similar: kick

  18. A rubber pad that propels the ball away upon impact, like a bumper, but usually a horizontal side of a wall.
  19. A practitioner of the kicking performance art.
  20. US, archaic, slang A complainer.

kicker²

  • /ˈkɪkɚ/ US
  • /ˈkɪkə/ UK

Rhymes with -ɪkə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

The southern-U.S. sense referring to a person derives from shitkicker, referring to a cowboy with boots used to kick away cow manure.

noun kickers

  1. Southern US, slang A particular type of Texan who is associated with country/western attire, attitudes, and/or philosophy.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: hitch, catch, stuff, violent, rub, trick, complication, trouble, best, thing, hiccup, cake, punter, kisser, kickboxer, jumpstarter

Translations

Every language

noun sports: one who takes kicks

DeutschKicker

noun colloquial: unexpected situation or detail

Españolgiro inesperado
Françaisblème
Русскийподвох podvox

noun poker: unpaired card in a poker hand

Françaiskicker, carte de départage
עבריתקיקר

noun journalism: Small text above a headline that indicates the topic of the story

DeutschDachzeile

noun journalism: the last paragraph or two of a story

Portuguêspé da matéria

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{kicker_2026,
  title = {kicker},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/kicker},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}