kick off1
1(Of a football match) be started or resumed by a player kicking the ball from the centre spot: World Cup games will kick off in the afternoon...
- The Ladies' exhibition football match kicks off at the Reebok at 3pm on Sunday.
- I actually predicted before the England v France match kicked off that Beckham would retire from International football at the end of the Championship.
- Usually when an FA Cup is played on a Saturday and a TV company wants to show the game live, it kicks off at around 12 noon or 1pm.
1.1(Of a team or player) begin or resume a match by kicking the ball from the centre spot.Their decision comes just three days before the England team kicks off against France as they bid to become Euro 2004 champions in Portugal....
- Lancashire captain Andy Farrell kicked off in a game delayed by traffic congestion resulting from bad weather earlier in the evening.
- Costa Rica kick off needing a point from this game.
1.2 (also kick something off) informal Begin or cause something to begin: the festival kicks off on Monday New Hampshire is the state whose presidential primary kicks off the political year...
- Bulgaria's new football championship season kicked off last weekend, implementing some interesting changes from past years.
- He kicked off the campaign with a radio interview in New Hampshire on October 9.
- The programme itself kicks off at noon with interviews and previews of the games to come.
Synonyms
start, begin, get going, get off the ground, get under way;
open, start off, set going, set in motion, launch, put in place, initiate, introduce, inaugurate, usher in, start the ball rolling
informal get the show on the road
formal commence
2British informal Become very angry; suddenly start an argument or fight: I don’t want her kicking off at me again there aren’t many people I can kick off with and then phone up to apologize to people said he was trying to buy drugs off these guys and then it all just kicked off in the street...
- Normally, if I'd been delayed by two hours on a train journey, I'd've been kicking off, and grumbling about the state of public transport.
- He had to be physically restrained after kicking off in the accident and emergency department at Blackburn Royal Infirmary.
- These yobs started asking her and her mates for a fag and then one of them thumped one of her friends and started to kick off.
See parent entry: kick
kick-off2
/ˈkɪkɒf
/noun
1The start or resumption of a football match, in which a player kicks the ball from the centre spot: three minutes before kick-off...
- She was presenting the match ball before kick-off and as club captain I had my photo taken with her to help promote the evening.
- We had some rain before kick-off and the players are taking full advantage.
- The match kick-off had to be put back 20 minutes while another coach arrived to take the players to the ground.
1.1 informal The start of an event or activity: the kick-off of the parade...
- We want to raise a million quid, and it's an impressively strong line-up for the kick-off event.
- The Strawberry Board of Directors say its been a hectic week getting everything set up for the kick-off of the festival.
Synonyms
beginning, start, outset, opening, starting point, initiation, inception
formal commencement