"kick at the can" meaning in English

See kick at the can in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-kick at the can.ogg Forms: kicks at the can [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|kicks at the can}} kick at the can (plural kicks at the can)
  1. (chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) An attempt or an opportunity. Tags: Canada, US, idiomatic
    Sense id: en-kick_at_the_can-en-noun-2AdglzTV Categories (other): American English, Canadian English
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: kick at the cat

Verb

Audio: En-au-kick at the can.ogg Forms: kicks at the can [present, singular, third-person], kicking at the can [participle, present], kicked at the can [participle, past], kicked at the can [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} kick at the can (third-person singular simple present kicks at the can, present participle kicking at the can, simple past and past participle kicked at the can)
  1. (chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) To make an attempt; to try. Tags: Canada, US, idiomatic Related terms: carry the can, kick the can, kick the can down the road
    Sense id: en-kick_at_the_can-en-verb-iAPpk6BV Categories (other): American English, Canadian English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 42 58 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 25 75 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 80
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: kick at the cat

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "kicks at the can",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "kicks at the can"
      },
      "expansion": "kick at the can (plural kicks at the can)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2005 June 17, Carol Vogel, “The Modern Buys 'Rebus'”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-02-13:",
          "text": "\"We're now in a situation where you get just one kick at the can,\" Mr. Elderfield said.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Paul Litt, Elusive Destiny: The Political Vocation of John Napier Turner, →ISBN, page 389:",
          "text": "He figured that Canadian political leaders got only two kicks at the can, and he'd now had both of his.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012 January 20, Eric Jackson, “In Defense of Jerry Yang”, in Forbes, retrieved 2014-02-13:",
          "text": "How many companies get the chance to flail around for 6 years and then get a second kick at the can?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An attempt or an opportunity."
      ],
      "id": "en-kick_at_the_can-en-noun-2AdglzTV",
      "links": [
        [
          "attempt",
          "attempt"
        ],
        [
          "opportunity",
          "opportunity"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) An attempt or an opportunity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-kick at the can.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/98/En-au-kick_at_the_can.ogg/En-au-kick_at_the_can.ogg.mp3",
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "kick at the cat"
    }
  ],
  "word": "kick at the can"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "kicks at the can",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kicking at the can",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kicked at the can",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kicked at the can",
      "tags": [
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    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      },
      "expansion": "kick at the can (third-person singular simple present kicks at the can, present participle kicking at the can, simple past and past participle kicked at the can)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
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          "_dis": "42 58",
          "kind": "other",
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To make an attempt; to try."
      ],
      "id": "en-kick_at_the_can-en-verb-iAPpk6BV",
      "links": [
        [
          "try",
          "try"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) To make an attempt; to try."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "carry the can"
        },
        {
          "word": "kick the can"
        },
        {
          "word": "kick the can down the road"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-kick at the can.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/98/En-au-kick_at_the_can.ogg/En-au-kick_at_the_can.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/En-au-kick_at_the_can.ogg"
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
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      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "kick at the cat"
    }
  ],
  "word": "kick at the can"
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{
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "kicks at the can",
      "tags": [
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      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "kicks at the can"
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    }
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English",
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2005 June 17, Carol Vogel, “The Modern Buys 'Rebus'”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-02-13:",
          "text": "\"We're now in a situation where you get just one kick at the can,\" Mr. Elderfield said.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Paul Litt, Elusive Destiny: The Political Vocation of John Napier Turner, →ISBN, page 389:",
          "text": "He figured that Canadian political leaders got only two kicks at the can, and he'd now had both of his.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012 January 20, Eric Jackson, “In Defense of Jerry Yang”, in Forbes, retrieved 2014-02-13:",
          "text": "How many companies get the chance to flail around for 6 years and then get a second kick at the can?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An attempt or an opportunity."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "attempt",
          "attempt"
        ],
        [
          "opportunity",
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) An attempt or an opportunity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/En-au-kick_at_the_can.ogg"
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      "word": "kick at the cat"
    }
  ],
  "word": "kick at the can"
}

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    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
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      "form": "kicks at the can",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "kicking at the can",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kicked at the can",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kicked at the can",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "kick at the can (third-person singular simple present kicks at the can, present participle kicking at the can, simple past and past participle kicked at the can)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "carry the can"
    },
    {
      "word": "kick the can"
    },
    {
      "word": "kick the can down the road"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English",
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To make an attempt; to try."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "try",
          "try"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) To make an attempt; to try."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-kick at the can.ogg",
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "kick at the cat"
    }
  ],
  "word": "kick at the can"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.