kick up

Verb

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

1. To rear back; to become more active or restless; to speed up.
2. (US, broadly, figuratively, informal, transitive) To raise, to increase (a price).
   • The rent has been kicked up again.
   • When Brazil triumphed over Italy in the final, it kicked up the price of Brazilian bonds.1998, Paul Stiles, Riding the bull: my year in the madness at Merrill Lynch, page 200
3. (figuratively, informal, transitive) To stir up (trouble), to cause (a disturbance).
   • In truth, these little men were so far out of the reach of their masters, that they considered themselves as little less than immortal, and often kicked up a dust for the sole purpose of showing their authority.1823, James Kirke Paulding, Koningsmarke, the Long Finne, page 45
   • It is no wonder that they are often heavy and indisposed, and demand on the next morning a visit to the medicine-chest to get rid of the superfluous food, which has already kicked up a disturbance.1874, John Henry Walsh, A Manual of Domestic Economy: Suited to Families spending from £150 to £1500 a year, page 639
4. (colloquial, transitive) To make more exciting.
   • kick it up a notch
   • Why not learn to build rustic furniture? Why not learn strength training at home? If you're married, why not kick up your sex life a notch?2010, Neil Atkinson, The Shrewd Christian, page 65
5. (informal, intransitive) To show anger (about something).
   • He kicked up about it when they told him the train had been cancelled.
   • But, you have kicked up about that a few times. I've got used to it, though. What I am not used to is how you are now. Very quiet, philosophical, and acquiescent.2005, Tony Gant, Sunrise Sandwiches, page 517
6. (US, informal, intransitive) To function improperly; to show signs of disorder; (of an illness) to flare up.
   • The car is kicking up.
   • My ADHD is kicking up again.2006, Thomas E. Brown, Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults, page 153
7. (machinery) To move sharply upward.
   • See, that rod there is supposed to kick up to engage the gear.
8. (slang) To pass (something, such as a proposal or a share of a bribe) up a hierarchy or chain of command.
   • You have to kick up some money to the boss.
   • Let me kick your offer up and see what the execs say.

   Synonyms:

   run up the flagpole

9. (intransitive, transitive) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see kick, up.
   • You could tell where he had been by the cloud of dust he had kicked up.
   • Alyssa turned around to look at Rebecca. “I suppose you could call it that.” She walked forward and kicked the ball up to her hands. “This used to be my best ball.” “Let me see you fix it,” Rebecca said with her eyebrows raised.2006, C. R. Kwiat, Razor’s Box, page 68