to kick up
11
4.2
- phrasal verb
- /kɪk ʌp/
:
provocar
- When the children start playing, they always kick up a lot of dust.
- kick up a fuss
- kick up a storm
- kick up controversy
While you do that, Nail will kick up a fuss in the villa.
- While you do that, Nail will kick up a fuss in the villa.
- If you're already overworked and you are in a fight or fight response constantly and then you are going and causing adrenaline to kick up even more.
- But when they did that, it kicked up, kicked over hornet's nest.
- So that's when you get the this the North Koreans to kick up and now you get that war to to really happen.
- And then it just kicks up and it hits a, hits a, a inflection point, right?
Examples
-
The way I see it, you could kick up a fuss and get yourself killed.
-
She kicks up quite a fuss.
-
I thought you might kick up a row or something.
-
For a new arrival, you certainly can kick up a storm.
-
But no, you go and kick up a full-scale riot!
-
I'm sure he kicked up a huge fuss.
Fiction book (1998) -
Now, I don't want to kick up a fuss.
-
Oh, he's just trying to kick up a fuss.
-
If we don't get back tonight and sleep here, your lady's going to kick up a big fuss.
Fiction book (1990) -
Then one night there's a bang in the night and you yell, who's that kicking up a row?
Synonyms
115
3.7
Cause a reaction or feeling
71
4.8
To bring a memory, image, or feeling to mind
48
4.8
To make people feel strong emotions like anger or fear
41
4.2
To upset someone strongly and change how they feel
7
4.9
Cause a feeling or reaction to appear in people
2
6.4
Complain loudly about something small
Antonyms
How Forceful
48
4.8
144
3.6
11
4.2
154
3.4
100
3.4
∞
1.0
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 verb uses the picture of kick and up — a sudden push that throws dust or makes a noisy scene, and people would kick up dust to get people's attention. That's why it now means 'to cause trouble' or 'make a fuss'.