Kick start or kickstart?
kick start is a noun meaning “A metal bar on a motorcycle used to start its engine”; kickstart is a noun meaning “Alternative form of kick start”. kick start is written as two words and kickstart as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between kick start and kickstart?
| kick start | kickstart | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | A metal bar on a motorcycle used to start its engine An act of starting a motorcycle by quickly depressing the kick start with one's foot To start a motorcycle | Alternative form of kick start |
| Example | The motorcycle requires a kick start | none recorded |
| Forms | kick-starts | kickstarts |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | not recorded |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | about once in every 2 million words |
Sources: kick start and kickstart 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 start and kickstart
kick start
- 1
A metal bar on a motorcycle used to start its engine
- 2
To start a motorcycle
He kick started the motorcycle and took off
- 3
Alternative form of kick start
Ten million dollars of seed money could provide the necessary kick-start for the initiative
- 4
Alternative form of kick start
- 5
An act of starting a motorcycle by quickly depressing the kick start with one's foot
The motorcycle requires a kick start
- 6
To start or begin strongly or quickly
To kick start your learning, let's summarize the basics
- 7
A fast or strong start; help with starting or beginning well
As a kick start for the group, let's write up some ideas
- 8
To make (something) active, functional, or productive again; to reinvigorate (an activity, system, or process)
To kick start the economy with a large construction project
kickstart
- 1
Alternative form of kick start
- 2
Alternative form of kick start
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 start or kickstart?
kick start is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; kickstart about once in every 2 million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).