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.
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.
a small, low-powered outboard motor.
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.
A small motor, esp an outboard, used for a boat; eggbeater(1928+)
Anything that gives great pleasure; kick: The kicker was the station wagon(1940s+)
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]