kicking around

verb

Definition of kicking aroundnext
present participle of kick around
1
as in contemplating
to give serious and careful thought to the board spent the afternoon kicking around the feasibility of opening an overseas office

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in playing
to spend time in aimless activity I really can't do much but kick around at work until I get the rest of the submissions

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in hanging (around or out)
to spend time doing nothing spent the afternoon kicking around, while his wife bought out the mall

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4
as in wandering
to move about from place to place aimlessly after spending a year in Europe kicking around, the backpacker was ready to return home

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5
as in abusing
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon children who were raised by an alcoholic father who regularly kicked them around

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Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for kicking around
  1. contemplating
  2. playing
  3. wandering
  4. pondering
  5. roaming
  6. considering
  7. bullying
  8. entertaining
Verb
  • By contemplating the ethical dimensions of AI, we are reminded of the importance of addressing the challenges people worldwide face today.
    Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
  • During the holiday season and the start of the New Year, workers often find themselves at a crossroads, contemplating a job change or career pivot.
    Jack Kelly, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
Definition of contemplating
Verb
  • Sasaki knew that attempting to expedite his dream of playing in the major leagues would cost him an enormous amount of public goodwill.
    Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Stearns was unaware of his feelings about the media and had not heard from Wolfe or anyone else that Sasaki would be uncomfortable playing in a place like New York.
    Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of playing
Verb
  • The owner, from Pennsylvania, shared several incriminating pictures of her chihuahua and Jack Russell mix, named Leia, holding pieces of bread in her mouth after wandering into the neighbor's yard.
    Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024
  • In this science-fiction satire, a domestic robot wandering through a world where everything has fallen apart just wants to find a human to serve but keeps meeting with chaos, disaster and confusion.
    Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 10 Dec. 2024
Definition of wandering
Verb
  • With the MasterChef Christmas specials featuring Wallace now no longer airing following sustained pressure, BBC bosses will be pondering what to do next.
    Max Goldbart, Deadline, 6 Dec. 2024
  • All of which, with this week’s verdict, may see Blumhouse and Netflix pondering a follow-up film to Our Father, or not.
    Dominic Patten, Deadline, 6 Dec. 2024
Definition of pondering
Verb
  • Advertisement To examine the impact of recreation on the lions, researchers used GPS and activity data gleaned from the tracking collars of 22 mountain lions roaming the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding region between 2011 and 2018.
    Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2024
  • There is a decidedly British flavor to the creative conception, rooted in childhoods spent roaming the English countryside (and in James’ case, reconstructing animal skeletons and amateur taxidermy), and the very particular creativity that comes out of London.
    Kate Matthams, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
Definition of roaming
Verb
  • Among those whom Dickson called when considering Posen was Domenico De Sole, the chairman of Tom Ford International, who had underwritten, along with Ford, Posen’s second runway show in 2002.
    Irina Aleksander, Vogue, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Detectives are still examining Mangione's writings but are considering the contents of the notebook to represent a confession, sources said.
    Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of considering
Verb
  • The Seattle Storm hired a law firm to investigate allegations that the team’s coaching staff engaged in harassing and bullying behavior toward players.
    Gabriella Levine, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
  • Providing bursts of energy by chasing balls out of bounds and bullying her wait into the paint for rebounds, the 5-9 freshman provided versatility not in the box score.
    Benjamin Royer, Los Angeles Times, 23 Nov. 2024
Definition of bullying
Verb
  • Kendra suggests her Chocolate Mouse for a Party recipe that is primed for entertaining a large crowd and guarantees everyone will get a scoop.
    Bon Appétit, Bon Appétit, 11 Dec. 2024
  • By the mid-1990s, public health leaders were entertaining the possibility that the STI could be eliminated.
    Benjamin Ryan, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
Definition of entertaining
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near kicking around

kicking (about)

kicking around

kicking back

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Cite this Entry

“Kicking around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kicking%20around. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

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