kick in

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To kick or strike so as to cause the object struck to collapse or fall inwards.
   • Upon hearing residents in the burning house, the passerby kicked in the front door and yelled to those inside.
   • You touch me again, I swear I’ll kick your teeth in.
2. (slang, transitive) To kick or strike (a person); to beat up.
3. (idiomatic, intransitive) To start, connect, or take effect, especially in a sudden way; to begin functioning.
   • You have to push the switch hard to get the heater to kick in.
   • I took my medication an hour ago, and it hasn't kicked in yet.
4. (slang) To join or begin.
   • You should kick in on the work.
   • The rhythm section will kick in after that point.
5. (idiomatic, intransitive, transitive) To contribute, especially to a collection of money; to hand over.
   • For the year-end party, we're asking each employee to kick in twenty dollars.
   • This is a worthy charity, so everyone should kick in.
6. (idiomatic) To die; to give up on something.
   • The business is going to kick in most likely.