different between kick vs smack

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?k/, [k??k]
• Rhymes: -?k

Etymology 1

From Middle English kiken (“to strike out with the foot”), from Old Norse kikna (“to sink at the knees”) and keikja (“to bend backwards”) (compare Old Norse keikr (“bent backwards, the belly jutting forward”)), from Proto-Germanic *kaikaz (“bent backwards”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *k?-, *kij- (“to split, dodge, swerve sidewards”), from Proto-Indo-European *?eyH- (“to sprout, shoot”). Compare also Dutch kijken (“to look”), Middle Low German k?ken (“to look, watch”). See keek.

Verb

kick (third-person singular simple present kicks, present participle kicking, simple past and past participle kicked)

1. (transitive) To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.

   Did you kick your brother?

   • 1895, George MacDonald, Lilith, Chapter XII: Friends and Foes,

     I was cuffed by the women and kicked by the men because I would not swallow it.

   • 1905, Fielding H. Yost, Football for Player and Spectator, Chapter 6,

     A punt is made by letting the ball drop from the hands and kicking it just before it touches the ground.

   • 1919, Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio, The Teacher: concerning Kate Swift,

     Will Henderson, who had on a light overcoat and no overshoes, kicked the heel of his left foot with the toe of the right.
2. (intransitive) To make a sharp jerking movement of the leg, as to strike something.

   He enjoyed the simple pleasure of watching the kickline kick.

   • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty, Chapter 1: My Early Home

     Sometimes we had rather rough play, for they would frequently bite and kick as well as gallop.

   • 1904, Stratemeyer Syndicate, The Bobbsey Twins, Chapter II: Rope Jumping, and What Followed,

     "If you did that, I'd kick," answered Freddie, and began to kick real hard into the air.

3. (transitive) To direct to a particular place by a blow with the foot or leg.

   Kick the ball into the goal.

   • 1905, Fielding H. Yost, Football for Player and Spectator, Chapter 7,

     Sometimes he can kick the ball forward along the ground until it is kicked in goal, where he can fall on it for a touchdown.

4. (with "off" or "out") To eject summarily.
   • 1936 October, Robert E. Howard, The Conquerin' Hero of the Humbolts, published in Action Stories

     "He's been mad at me ever since I fired him off'n my payroll. After I kicked him off'n my ranch he run for sheriff, and the night of the election everybody was so drunk they voted for him by mistake, or for a joke, or somethin', and since he's been in office he's been lettin' the sheepmen steal me right out of house and home."

   • 1976 February 3, Bill Gates, An Open Letter to Hobbyists,

     They are the ones who give hobbyists a bad name, and should be kicked out of any club meeting they show up at.
5. (intransitive, Internet) To forcibly remove a participant from an online activity.

   He was kicked by ChanServ for flooding.

6. (transitive, slang) To overcome (a bothersome or difficult issue or obstacle); to free oneself of (a problem).

   I still smoke, but they keep telling me to kick the habit.

7. To move or push suddenly and violently.

   He was kicked sideways by the force of the blast.

   • 2011, Tom Andry, Bob Moore: No Hero

     The back of the car kicked out violently, forcing me to steer into the slide and accelerate in order to maintain control.

8. (of a firearm) To recoil; to push by recoiling.
   • 2003, Jennifer C. D. Groomes, The Falcon Project, page 174,

     Lying on the ground, when fired, it kicked me back a foot. There was no way a person my size was going to be able to do an effective job with this gun.

   • 2006, Daniel D. Scherschel, Maple Grove, page 81,

     I asked my sister Jeanette if she wanted to shoot the 12 ga. shotgun. She replied, "does it kick"?

9. (chess, transitive) To attack (a piece) in order to force it to move.
10. (intransitive, cycling) To accelerate quickly with a few pedal strokes in an effort to break away from other riders.

    Contador kicks again to try to rid himself of Rasmussen.

11. (intransitive) To show opposition or resistance.
12. (printing, historical) To work a press by impact of the foot on a treadle.

Descendants

• ? German: kicken
• ? Welsh: cicio

Translations

Noun

kick (plural kicks)

1. A hit or strike with the leg, foot or knee.

   A kick to the knee.

   • 1890, Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives, Chapter VII: A Raid on the Stable-Beer Dives,

     A kick of his boot-heel sent the door flying into the room.

   • 2011, Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England [1]

     Elsad Zverotic gave Montenegro hope with a goal with the last kick of the first half - and when Rooney was deservedly shown red by referee Wolfgang Stark, England were placed under pressure they could not survive.

2. The action of swinging a foot or leg.

   The ballerina did a high kick and a leap.

3. (colloquial) Something that tickles the fancy; something fun or amusing.

   I finally saw the show. What a kick!

   I think I sprained something on my latest exercise kick.

4. (Internet) The removal of a person from an online activity.
5. (figuratively) Any bucking motion of an object that lacks legs or feet.

   The car had a nasty kick the whole way.

   The pool ball took a wild kick, up off the table.

6. (uncountable and countable) Piquancy.
   • 2002, Ellen and Michael Albertson, Temptations, Fireside, ?ISBN, page 124 [2]:

     Add a little cascabel pepper to ordinary tomato sauce to give it a kick.

   • 2003, Sheree Bykofsky and Megan Buckley, Sexy City Cocktails, Adams Media, ?ISBN, page 129 [3]:

     For extra kick, hollow out a lime, float it on top of the drink, and fill it with tequila.

   • 2007 August 27, Anthony Lane, "Lone Sailors", The New Yorker, volume 83, Issues 22-28

     The first time I saw "Deep Water," the trace of mystery in the Crowhurst affair gave the movie a kick of excitement.

7. A stimulation provided by an intoxicating substance.
8. (soccer) A pass played by kicking with the foot.
9. (soccer) The distance traveled by kicking the ball.

   a long kick up the field.

10. A recoil of a gun.
11. (informal) Pocket.
12. An increase in speed in the final part of a running race.
13. (film, television) Synonym of kicker (“backlight positioned at an angle”)

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:kick.

Descendants

• ? German: Kick
• ? Irish: cic

Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Shortening of kick the bucket.

Verb

kick (third-person singular simple present kicks, present participle kicking, simple past and past participle kicked)

1. (intransitive) To die.

Etymology 3

Shortening of kick ass

Verb

kick (third-person singular simple present kicks, present participle kicking, simple past and past participle kicked)

1. (slang, intransitive) To be emphatically excellent.

   That band really kicks.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Etymology 1

Borrowing from English kick.

Noun

kick m (plural kicks)

1. kick, thrill (something that excites or gives pleasure)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

kick

1. first-person singular present indicative of kicken
2. imperative of kicken

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [k?k]
• Rhymes: -?k

Verb

kick

1. singular imperative of kicken
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of kicken

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smæk/
• Rhymes: -æk

Etymology 1

From Middle English smac, smak, smacke, from Old English smæc, smæ?? (“taste, smatch”), from Proto-Germanic *smakkuz (“a taste”), from Proto-Indo-European *smeg?-, *smeg- (“to taste”). Cognate with English dialectal smatch, Scots smak (“scent, smell, taste, flavour”), Saterland Frisian Smoak (“taste”), West Frisian smaak (“taste”), Dutch smaak (“taste”), German Schmack, Geschmack (“taste”), Swedish and Norwegian smak (“taste”), Norwegian smekke . Akin to Old English smæ??an (“to taste, smack”). More at smake, smatch.

Noun

smack (countable and uncountable, plural smacks)

1. A distinct flavor, especially if slight.

   rice pudding with a smack of cinnamon
2. A slight trace of something; a smattering.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     He was not sailorly, and yet he had a smack of the sea about him too.

3. (slang, uncountable) Heroin.
4. (Northern England) A form of fried potato; a scallop.

Derived terms

• foresmack
• smackless

Translations

Verb

smack (third-person singular simple present smacks, present participle smacking, simple past and past participle smacked)

1. (transitive) To get the flavor of.
   • 1827, Thomas Carlyle (translator), Johann August Musæus, "Melechsala" (1782-86); in German Romance I. 175

     He soon smacked the taste of physic hidden in this sweetness.

2. (intransitive) To indicate or suggest something; used with of.

   Her reckless behavior smacks of pride.
3. (intransitive) To have a particular taste; used with of.
   • 1820-25, Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia

     He had his tea and hot rolls in a morning, while we were battening upon our quarter-of-a-penny loaf — our crug — moistened with attenuated small beer, in wooden piggings, smacking of the pitched leathern jack it was poured from.

Derived terms

• smack of

Etymology 2

From Middle Low German smack (Low German Schmacke, Schmaake (“small ship”)) or Dutch smak, perhaps ultimately related to smakken, imitative of the sails' noise.

Noun

smack (plural smacks)

2. A small sailing vessel, commonly rigged as a sloop, used chiefly in the coasting and fishing trade and often called a fishing smack
3. A group of jellyfish.

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “smack”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Etymology 3

From Middle Dutch smacken, of imitative origin.

Akin to German schmatzen (“eat noisily”), Dutch smakken (“to fling down”), Plautdietsch schmaksen (“to smack the lips”), regional German schmacken, Schmackes (“vigour”) (compare Swedish smak (“slap”), Middle Low German smacken, the first part of Saterland Frisian smakmuulje (“smack”)).

Noun

smack (plural smacks)

1. A sharp blow; a slap. See also: spank.
2. The sound of a loud kiss.
3. A quick, sharp noise, as of the lips when suddenly separated, or of a whip.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

smack (third-person singular simple present smacks, present participle smacking, simple past and past participle smacked)

1. To slap or hit someone.
2. To make a smacking sound.
   • 1832, Banjamin Disraeli, Contarini Fleming

     A horse neighed, and a whip smacked, there was a whistle, and the sound of a cart wheel.

3. (New Zealand) To strike a child (usually on the buttocks) as a form of discipline. (US spank)
4. To wetly separate the lips, making a noise, after tasting something or in expectation of a treat.
   • 1763, Robert Lloyd, “A Familiar Epistle” in St. James Magazine:

     But when, obedient to the mode / Of panegyric, courtly ode / The bard bestrides, his annual hack, / In vain I taste, and sip and smack, / I find no flavour of the Sack.

5. To kiss with a close compression of the lips, so as to make a sound when they separate.

Translations

Adverb

smack (not comparable)

1. As if with a smack or slap; smartly; sharply.

   Right smack bang in the middle.

Derived terms

• smack-dab

Further reading

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Anagrams

• macks

Swedish

Noun

smack n

1. (in the phrase "inte ett smack") smidgeon, piece, small bit

See also

• inte ett smack

Anagrams

• macks