kick up
1
6.9
- noun
- Specialized
:
impulso
- "They're from Jessica Simpson," she says, kicking up a leg for us to get a closer look at the high wedge heels.
- kick up your left leg
Examples
-
For years he weathered the storms Mrs. Burns kicked up and got the city men in and out in a day and a half with a few steaks from deer he had hung and cured before.
Fiction book (2000) -
When she saw him actually jump up in the air and kick up his heels, she laughed.
Fiction book (2000) -
The mare was spinning in a circle, kicking up her heels.
Fiction book (2000) -
I did most of my fightin' in Belgium, military-wise... but I kicked up my heels in France a time or two.
-
He stumbled to a halt, kicking up pea gravel under his running shoes.
Fiction book (2000) -
"This, in fact, is an apt description of Laraby and Chester and McGraw, the three of them huddling in that alley, the only safe place to kick up the generator and the mercury lights.
Fiction book (1996) -
The gymnast performed a perfect kick up to transition into her handstand.
-
During the practice session, I learned how to kick up into a handstand with more control.
-
He demonstrated a smooth kick up that impressed all his classmates in the gymnastics class.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to cause something to appear or occur suddenly' is partly derivable from combining 'kick' (to strike/make) with 'up' (upwards/into being): literal uses like 'kick up dust' transparently map to this sense and the figurative 'kick up a fuss' is a straightforward metaphorical extension. However, because the particle-verb extension is somewhat figurative and learners must generalize the causative 'raise/stir up' meaning across contexts, a B1 learner may not fully predict all uses without prior exposure.
Etymology
Kick up as a noun comes from a gymnastic move where you put your hands on the ground and kick your legs up behind you to go into a handstand. So the noun describes that exact movement.