Kick off or kickoff?
kick off is a verb meaning “To make the first kick in a game or part of a game”; kickoff is a noun meaning “Alternative spelling of kick-off”. kick off is written as two words and kickoff as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between kick off and kickoff?
| kick off | kickoff | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun | noun |
| Meaning | To make the first kick in a game or part of a game To start; to launch; to set in motion The opening kick of each half of a game of football | Alternative spelling of kick-off |
| Example | The players kick off for the third quarter and the clock starts | none recorded |
| Forms | none | kickoffs |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | not recorded |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 2.5 times per million words |
Sources: kick off and kickoff in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of kick off and kickoff
kick off
- 1
To make the first kick in a game or part of a game
The players kick off for the third quarter and the clock starts
- 2
The opening kick of each half of a game of football
- 3
To start; to launch; to set in motion
Let's kick off this project with a planning meeting
- 4
The opening sequence of any event
- 5
To dismiss; to expel; to remove from a position
I got kicked off the team after a string of poor performances
- 6
The opening sequence of notes in a song, usually played by the song's main instrument, to indicate the beginning of the song
- 7
UScolloquialTo die or quit permanently
It's a wonder that old dog hasn't kicked off yet
- 8
USTo shut down or turn off suddenly
The washer was working fine until it kicked off in the middle of a cycle
kickoff
- 1
Alternative spelling of kick-off
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, kick off or kickoff?
kick off is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; kickoff 2.5 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search kick off vs kickoff?
“kick off vs kickoff” is searched about 260 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“kickoff vs kick off”, “kick off or kickoff”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.