kick-step

noun

A dance move in which the dancer first kicks a foot in the air in front of the opposite leg (often while bending the knee slightly on that leg) and then puts the foot down shifting balance on to it.

Meanings

nounkick-step (plural kick-steps)

plural kick-steps

  1. danceA dance move in which the dancer first kicks a foot in the air in front of the opposite leg (often while bending the knee slightly on that leg) and then puts the foot down shifting balance on to it.
  2. A hiking technique for managing loose soil where the hiker first aggressively kicks the ground, digging a foothold, before shifting weight onto the foot.

    The kick-step she'd used to make steps out of the play area, was necessary to keep from sliding while walking across a slope.

    2014, Marlene Collins, Quiet Savage, →ISBN, page 235
verbkick-step (third-person singular simple present kick-steps, present participle kick-stepping, simple past and past participle kick-stepped)

present singular third person kick-steps · participle present kick-stepping · participle past kick-stepped · past kick-stepped

  1. danceTo dance using a kick-step.
    1 more example

    2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)https://web.archive.org/web/20150212214621/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text Arms draped on shoulders, kick-stepping in circles, they swing bottles of wine. Purpled thumbs cork the bottles. The wine leaps and jumps behind green glass.

  2. To hike using a kick-step.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

kick-step. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kick-step

MLA

“kick-step.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kick-step. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kick-step,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kick-step.

Source: kick-step on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.