Literary notes about Kick (AI summary)
Authors employ "kick" in diverse ways, ranging from explicit physical violence to metaphorical expressions of resistance and expulsion. In some works, it underscores sudden bursts of aggression or humor, as when characters use the kick to propel themselves into action or to disrupt a scene ([1], [2], [3]). In other texts, the term is extended metaphorically to denote rejection or dismissal—for instance, when someone is "kicked out" of a setting or figuratively denied passage ([4], [5], [6]). Whether used to evoke vivid imagery of combat or to illustrate moments of upheaval and personal transformation, "kick" serves as a dynamic device that enriches narrative tension and character interaction ([7], [8], [9]).
- "So I broke away early this mornin', gave my guard a kick in the tummy that laid him out, and sprinted for the camp.
— from The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle - And he raised his foot, and gave him such a kick that he flew away over four loads of hay.
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm - Sowerberry had not yet returned, and Oliver continued to kick, with undiminished vigour, at the cellar-door.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens - [cause to stop going to school (transitive)] dismiss, expel, kick out of school.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - I used to kick such people out, but now I listen to them.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Maybe they will all begin beating me and will kick me out.
— from White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - "She is angry—she doesn't know what we mean—she'll kick over the milk!"
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy - “I’ll kick his brains out, if he has any—, or fracture his skull if he hasn’t.”
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - Outside the room, the Little Man grew more and more impatient, and finally gave the door such a violent kick that it flew open.
— from The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi