kicker

[kik-er] /ˈkɪk ər/
noun
1.
a person or thing that kicks.
2.
Informal.
  1. a disadvantageous point or circumstance, usually concealed or unnoticed:
    The tickets are free, but the kicker is that you have to wait in line for hours to get them.
  2. a surprising change or turn of events:
    The kicker was that their friends knew it before they did.
3.
something extra, as an additional cost or gain; an added expense or financial incentive.
4.
Draw Poker. a card, usually an ace or face card, held with a pair or three of a kind in the hope of drawing a matching card.
5.
(in concrete construction) a low plinth at the base of a column.
6.
kickers, Slang. shoes, especially leisure shoes.
7.
Nautical.
  1. a small, low-powered outboard motor.
  2. an auxiliary engine on a sailing vessel, river steamer, etc.
8.
Slang. the alcoholic liquor in a mixed drink.
9.
Also called eyebrow, highline, overline, teaser. Printing, Journalism. a short line of copy set in a distinctive type above a headline and intended to call attention to it.
10.
Metallurgy. a charge of high-carbon iron that produces a vigorous boil when charged into an open-hearth furnace containing slag and molten metal of lower carbon content.
11.
Also called kicker light. Photography. a light source coming from the back and side of a subject and producing a highlight.
Origin
1565-75; kick + -er1
Examples from the web for kicker
  • The real kicker though is going to be the huge impact on the services side.
  • And the kicker not obtaining health insurance through an employer.
  • The kicker, the real fly in the ointment in all this, is global climate change.
  • Instead of graft call it a bonus, or an equity kicker.
  • The kicker is that many of the technology improvements have been sitting on auto industry shelves for years.
  • But here's the kicker: none of the parts that have forced the planes out of the air have been engines.
  • In kicking, though the whole operation is a team effort, the credit or blame almost always goes to the kicker.
  • And here's the kicker about the ridiculousness of the papal dispensations for consanguinity.
  • The kicker is that many faculty and students come to over rely upon it, firmly believing that nothing will ever go wrong.
  • And here's the kicker, competent tenured full professor doesn't have to be a critic of administrators or colleagues.
British Dictionary definitions for kicker

kicker

/ˈkɪkə/
noun
1.
a person or thing that kicks
2.
(sport) a player in a rugby or occasionally a soccer team whose task is to attempt to kick conversions, penalty goals, etc
3.
(US & Canadian, slang) a hidden and disadvantageous factor, such as a clause in a contract
4.
(informal) any light outboard motor for propelling a boat
5.
(poker) the highest unpaired card in a hand, used to decide the outcome of an otherwise tied round
Word Origin and History for kicker
n.

1570s, agent noun from kick (v.).

Slang definitions & phrases for kicker

kicker

noun
  1. A complainer; kvetch (1876+)
  2. A small motor, esp an outboard, used for a boat; eggbeater (1928+)
  3. Anything that gives great pleasure; kick: The kicker was the station wagon (1940s+)
  4. A hidden cost, qualification, defect, etc; catch: The kicker is that if you are subject to this requirement, your homeowner's policy will not cover the injuries/ The kicker to this one is simple (1970s+)

[fourth sense probably fr poker, ''a high card kept, along with a pair, in draw poker,'' found by 1892]