Word.ws English Dictionary

kicks up one's heels

kicks up one's heels is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 kicks up one's heels

What is kicks up one's heels the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Kicks up one's heels is the third-person singular simple present indicative of kick up one's heels.

Words near kicks up one's heels in the dictionary

  1. kicks to the curb
  2. kicks to the kerb
  3. kicks up
  4. kicks up a fuss
  5. kicks up dust
  6. kicks up one's heels
  7. kicks up the arse
  8. kicks up the ass
  9. kicks up the backside
  10. kicks up the bottom
  11. kicks up the bum

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kicks 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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