kick off—v., to start, to begin.
This idiom comes from American football, where games begin when a player kicks the football to the other team. The phrase today is widely used both in written and spoken English, for events and periods of time, as in The conference kicked off. . ., the school year kicked off . . . The noun kickoff is also common both in the sport and elsewhere, as in the kickoff of the conference.
Examples:
Our team kicked the ball off at the beginning of the game.
The school year kicks off next week.
The school is kicking the year off with a Back to School Party.
The conference will kick off with as keynote speech.
kickoff—n., start, beginning.
The noun kickoff has also moved from American football to become a widely used idiom, both as a simple noun and one used in the attributive (as an adjective).
Examples:
The game’s kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The mayor held a campaign kickoff last week.
The conference began with a kickoff event.
Notes
The first and second halves of American and Canadian football games begin with one team kicking off the ball. With the ball set on a tee, one player kicks it, and the player who catches it tries to run it back. The kicking team then tries to stop the runner by tackling him. Teams also kick off after scoring points.
By John Sailors
(C) 2014, by EnglishMobi.
