kicks 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.
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.
4. (slang) To join or begin.
   • You should kick in on the work.
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.
6. (idiomatic) To die; to give up on something.
   • The business is going to kick in most likely.