Word.ws English Dictionary

kicking someone when they are down

kicking someone when they are down is the present participle and gerund of kick someone when they are down.

Meaning of kick someone when they are down

Verb

kick someone when they are down (third-person singular simple present kicks someone when they are down, present participle kicking someone when they are down, simple past and past participle kicked someone when they were down)

  1. (idiomatic) To make things worse for someone who is going through a difficult time.
    • They would never kick someone when they are down or give themselves an unfair advantage by cheating or stealing. The implications of this type of behavior are huge.2000, Richard Carlson, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Teens: Simple Ways to Keep Your Cool in Stressful Times, page 114

Questions about kicking someone when they are down

What is kicking someone when they are down the present participle and gerund of?
Kicking someone when they are down is the present participle and gerund of kick someone when they are down.

Words near kicking someone when they are down in the dictionary

  1. kicking over
  2. kicking rocks
  3. kicking shit
  4. kicking some tail
  5. kicking some tires
  6. kicking someone when they are down
  7. kicking someone's arse
  8. kicking someone's ass
  9. kicking someone's butt
  10. kicking strap
  11. kicking straps

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kicking someone when they are down (page history and authors); kick someone when they are down (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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