Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) to make a fuss, to complain.

1910

F.P. Dunne Mr Dooley Says 50: I don’t see what th’ subjick races got to kick about.

2. (orig. US) to hang about, to wander aimlessly.

1839		C.M. Kirkland New Home xxv 195: We heard that he was better, and would be able to ‘kick around’ pretty soon [DA].
1853		R.S. Surtees Mr Sponge’s Sporting Tour 37: Natty tigers [might be seen] to kick around in buckskins prior to departing.
1883		H. Smart Hard Lines III 56: But hang it all, why ain’t you with us up there instead of kicking about here?
1899		‘Pot’ & ‘Swears’ Scarlet City 164: He was sick of kicking about Victoria.
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 26 July 13/3: Very noticeable about here at present are the Mormon elders kicking round. [...] All the other sky-pilot cadgers go to the native and ask straight out for the money in cash. Not so the Mormon.
1911		Examiner (Launceston, Tas.) 15 Aug. 2/7: Lots of P,C.’s kicking around.
1912		J. London Smoke Bellew (1926) 14: Tell him to kick around and get some gink to turn out a live serial, and to put into it the real romance and glamour and colour of San Francisco.
1918		C.J. Dennis Digger Smith 109: Kick about—To loaf or hand about.
1937		P. Cheyney Dames Don’t Care (1960) 79: Her pa wanted her to get hitched to some young bible-student who was kickin’ about the place.
1939		P. Cheyney Don’t Get Me Wrong (1956) 8: I am an Americano who is kickin’ around lookin’ for a ranch that I wanta buy.
1941		F. Sargeson ‘That Summer’ in Coll. Stories (1965) 172: I went off whistling and feeling life was good when a man had a cobber like Terry to kick around with.
1951		M. Spillane One Lonely Night 59: You’ll get a fat fee [...] instead of kicking around for free.
1966		T. Keyes All Night Stand 21: We kicked around a bit and decided to have breakfast.
1973		(con. 1930s) F. Huelin ‘Keep Moving’ 44: I knew a sheila named Mary Dugan [...] Kicked around with her in ’Scray for a few weeks.
1990		(con. 1930s–60s) H. Huncke Guilty of Everything (1998) 252: I sort of kicked around the place until I saw a cab pull up.
1998		I. Welsh Filth 217: He’s still kicking aboot.
2006		G. Malkani Londonstani (2007) 23: I made a choice when I started kickin bout with Hardjit.
2012		G. Pelecanos (con. 1972) What It Was 22: Kicked around some, doing a little bit of this and that.

3. to exist.

1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 4 Apr. 9/3: I think, with God’s help, that the large amount of human misery that’s kicking about on the face of the earth will soon be altered for the better.
1940		F.S. Fitzgerald ‘Teamed with Genius’ in Pat Hobby Stories (1967) 51: We’ve had a Russian Ballet picture kicking around for a year.
1952		(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 154: She’s been kickin around the Village for years.
1960		C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 204: I actually think you’re glad to have the Scene kicking around!
1973		in C. Browne Body Shop 144: My parents are still kickin’ around, still arguin’.
2007		C. Goffard Snitch Jacket 18: There are things kicking around in those rooms [...] that I sometimes wish would clear out.

4. (orig. US) to discuss or consider a topic or idea.

1946		J. Evans Halo in Blood (1988) 52: Shall we kick it around down here, or would you rather come upstairs for some privacy?
1958		H. Ellison ‘With a Knife in her Hand’ in Deadly Streets (1983) 122: We been kickin’ it around like y’know.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 107: I was kicking these thoughts around one day, sitting in El Viejo’s candy store.
1971		D. Goines Dopefiend (1991) 154: News about anyone getting killed . . . was always exciting enough to kick around.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 66: Think it over. Kick it around with your shrink. [Ibid.] 128: Omar was nodding his head, taking in the information and kicking it around.
1987		Ice-T ‘Six in the Morning’ 🎵 Kicked around some stories bout the night before.
1995		J. Stahl Permanent Midnight 38: We’d kick around, say, the best words for vagina.
2008		W.D. Myers Game 86: Everybody on the team knew he was setting stuff up for Tomas, but we didn’t kick it around.

5. to put into circulation, to distribute.

1960

C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 127: You should’ve thought of your kids when you started to kick stuff around.