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Glite Dictionary
kick turn

kick turn

1 8.2
A skiing move where you lift one ski and turn to go the other way while standing
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : giro de esquí
  • make kick turns
  • 22 kick turns

Examples

  • You did a kick turn, Sid.

    Lords of Dogtown (2005)

  • All you gotta do is a couple of kick turns next time... - ...and you'll destroy everybody.

    Lords of Dogtown (2005)

  • To make it easier to change direction, try using a kick turn on the slope.

  • During the ski class, the instructor demonstrated the kick turn for everyone to learn.

  • I practiced my kick turns on the steep hill to improve my skiing technique.

Surface Forms

kick turn singular
kick turns plural

Morphology

kick + turn

The compound clearly combines 'kick' (a kicking motion) and 'turn' (change direction), so a learner can infer it denotes a turning action that involves a kick-like movement. However, the exact, technical skiing maneuver (pivoting one ski vertically and stepping it back while staying in place) is specialized and not fully predictable from the parts alone, so the expression is only partially transparent to B1 learners.

Etymology

Kick turn comes from the clear image of lifting one ski and kicking it back while the other ski stays planted, so you can spin around in a small space. That 'kick' lets you turn in place, which is why the term means 'to change direction while standing on your skis'.