Word.ws English Dictionary

kicking up one's heels

kicking up one's heels is the present participle and gerund of kick up one's heels.

Meaning of kick up one's heels

Verb

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

  1. (figuratively) To dance.
    • Above the peals of laughter with which the words were received, rose Jake's voice, "Come on, ole fiddler, play somefin a nigger kin kick up his heels to; what's de use of singing after dat fashion; dis aint no meetin."1852, Mary Henderson Eastman, chapter XI, in Aunt Phillis's Cabin
  2. (idiomatic) To relax; to enjoy oneself; to do as one pleases.
    • "Therefore he has a right, for a change, to 'kick up his heels?"1904, Henry James, chapter XVI, in The Golden Bowl
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see kick, up, one's, heels.
    • If a swimmer kicks up his heels and splashes the water, the judge will take points off accordingly.

Questions about kicking up one's heels

What is kicking up one's heels the present participle and gerund of?
Kicking up one's heels is the present participle and gerund of kick up one's heels.

Words near kicking up one's heels in the dictionary

  1. kicking to the curb
  2. kicking to the kerb
  3. kicking up
  4. kicking up a fuss
  5. kicking up dust
  6. kicking up one's heels
  7. kicking upstairs
  8. kicking with
  9. kicking with the other foot
  10. kickingly
  11. kickings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kicking up one's heels (page history and authors); kick up one's heels (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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