What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Kick vs Plain - What's the difference?

kick | plain |

As nouns the difference between kick and plain

is that kick is kick while plain is (rare|poetic) a lamentation or plain can be an expanse of land with relatively low relief.

As an adjective plain is

.

As an adverb plain is

(colloquial) simply.

As a verb plain is

to lament, bewail or plain can be (obsolete|transitive) to plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface.

kick

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . See (l).

Verb

(en verb)
  • To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.
  • Did you kick your brother?
  • * 1877 , , Chapter 1: My Early Home,
  • Sometimes we had rather rough play, for they would frequently bite and kick as well as gallop.
  • * 1895 , , Chapter XII: Friends and Foes,
  • I was cuffed by the women and kicked by the men because I would not swallow it.
  • * 1905 , , Chapter 6,
  • A punt is made by letting the ball drop from the hands and kicking it just before it touches the ground.
  • * 1919 , , The Teacher: concerning Kate Swift,
  • Will Henderson, who had on a light overcoat and no overshoes, kicked the heel of his left foot with the toe of the right.
  • To make a sharp jerking movement of the leg, as to strike something.
  • He enjoyed the simple pleasure of watching the kickline kick .
  • * 1904 , , Chapter II: Rope Jumping, and What Followed,
  • "If you did that, I'd kick'," answered Freddie, and began to ' kick real hard into the air.
  • To direct to a particular place by a blow with the foot or leg.
  • Kick the ball into the goal.
  • * 1905 , , Chapter 7,
  • Sometimes he can kick' the ball forward along the ground until it is ' kicked in goal, where he can fall on it for a touchdown.
  • To eject summarily.
  • * 1936 October,
  • "He's been mad at me ever since I fired him off'n my payroll. After I kicked him off'n my ranch he run for sheriff, and the night of the election everybody was so drunk they voted for him by mistake, or for a joke, or somethin', and since he's been in office he's been lettin' the sheepmen steal me right out of house and home."
  • * 1976 February 3, ,
  • They are the ones who give hobbyists a bad name, and should be kicked out of any club meeting they show up at.
  • (Internet) To remove a participant from an online activity.
  • He was kicked by ChanServ for flooding.
  • (slang) To overcome (a bothersome or difficult issue or obstacle); to free onself of (a problem).
  • By taking that medication, he managed to get his triggered phobia of heights kicked .
    I still smoke, but they keep telling me to kick the habit.
  • To move or push suddenly and violently.
  • He was kicked sideways by the force of the blast.
  • * 2011 , Tom Andry, Bob Moore: No Hero ,
  • The back of the car kicked out violently, forcing me to steer into the slide and accelerate in order to maintain control.
  • (of a firearm) To recoil; to push by recoiling.
  • * 2003 , Jennifer C. D. Groomes, The Falcon Project , page 174,
  • Lying on the ground, when fired, it kicked me back a foot. There was no way a person my size was going to be able to do an effective job with this gun.
  • * 2006 , Daniel D. Scherschel, Maple Grove , page 81,
  • I asked my sister Jeanette if she wanted to shoot the 12 ga. shotgun. She replied, "does it kick "?
    Descendants
    * German: (l)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A hit or strike with the leg or foot or knee.
  • A kick to the knee.
  • * 1890 , , Chapter VII: A Raid on the Stable-Beer Dives,
  • A kick of his boot-heel sent the door flying into the room.
  • * 2011 , Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/15195384.stm]
  • Elsad Zverotic gave Montenegro hope with a goal with the last kick of the first half - and when Rooney was deservedly shown red by referee Wolfgang Stark, England were placed under pressure they could not survive.
  • The action of swinging a foot or leg.
  • The ballerina did a high kick and a leap.
  • (colloquial) Something that tickles the fancy; something fun or amusing.
  • I finally saw the show. What a kick !
    I think I sprained something on my latest exercise kick .
  • (Internet) The removal of a person from an online activity.
  • A button (of a joypad, joystick or similar device) whose only or main current function is that when it is pressed causes a video game character to kick.
  • (figuratively) Any bucking motion of an object that lacks legs or feet.
  • The car had a nasty kick the whole way.
    The pool ball took a wild kick , up off the table.
  • (uncountable, and, countable) piquancy
  • * 2002 , Ellen and Michael Albertson, Temptations , , ISBN 0743229800, page 124 [http://books.google.com/books?id=cITFVpz2ri8C&pg=PA124&dq=kick]:
  • Add a little cascabel pepper to ordinary tomato sauce to give it a kick .
  • * 2003 , Sheree Bykofsky and Megan Buckley, Sexy City Cocktails , , ISBN 1580629172, page 129 [http://books.google.com/books?id=GBO9qF3uXYUC&pg=PA129&dq=kick]:
  • For extra kick , hollow out a lime, float it on top of the drink, and fill it with tequila.
  • * 2007 August 27, , volume 83, Issues 22-28
  • The first time I saw "Deep Water," the trace of mystery in the Crowhurst affair gave the movie a kick of excitement.
  • A stimulation provided by an intoxicating substance.
  • (soccer) A pass played by kicking with the foot.
  • (soccer) The distance traveled by kicking the ball.
  • a long kick up the field.
  • a recoil of a gun.
  • (informal) pocket
  • An increase in speed in the final part of a running race.
  • (chess) To attack (a piece) in order to force it to move.
  • Descendants
    * German: (l)

    Derived terms

    * drop kick * for kicks * free kick * get a kick out of * on a kick * kick about * kick against the pricks * kick around * kick ass, kick butt * kick at the can * kick back * kickban (Internet) * kickboxing * kick the bucket * kickflip * kick in * kick in the pants * kick in the teeth * kick it * kick like a mule * kick off (pos v) * kick-off (pos n) * kick one's heels * kick out * kick over * kick over the traces * kick someone when they are down * kickstand * kick start * kick the can, kick-the-can * kick the can down the road * kick the habit * kick up * kick up the arse/kick up the ass/kick up the backside/kick up the butt * kick up one's heels * kick upstairs * kick wheel

    Etymology 2

    Shortening of (kick the bucket)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To die.
  • * '>citation
  • ----

    plain

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) pleyn, playn, (etyl) plain, plein, from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • * Bible, (w) xl. 4
  • The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain .
  • Simple.
  • # Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.}}
  • # Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.
  • # Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary.
  • #* (Henry Hammond) (1605-1660)
  • plain yet pious Christians
  • #* (Abraham Lincoln) (1809-1865)
  • the plain people
  • # (label) Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras.
  • # (label) Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text).
  • Obvious.
  • # Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable.
  • #* 1843 , (Thomas Carlyle), '', book 2, ch. XV, ''Practical — Devotional
  • In fact, by excommunication or persuasion, by impetuosity of driving or adroitness in leading, , it is now becoming plain everywhere, is a man that generally remains master at last.
  • # Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier).
  • Open.
  • # Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • an honest mind, and plain
  • # Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
  • #* Felton
  • Our troops beat an army in plain fight.
  • Not unusually beautiful; unattractive.
  • Synonyms
    * no-frills * normal * ordinary * simple * unadorned * unseasoned * See also
    Antonyms
    * bells and whistles * decorative * exotic * fancy * ornate
    Derived terms
    * plain and simple * plain as a pikestaff * plain as the nose on one's face * plain chocolate * plain clothes * plain-dealing * plain film * plain flour * plain-hearted * plain Jane * plain-laid * plain line * plain paper * plain sailing * plain song/plainsong * plain-spoken * plain text * plain-vanilla * plain weave * plain-winged * plainly * plainness

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (colloquial) Simply
  • It was just plain stupid.
    I plain forgot.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) plainer, pleiner, variant of (etyl) and (etyl) pleindre, plaindre, from (etyl) plangere, present active infinitive of .

    Alternative forms

    * plein

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (rare, poetic) A lamentation.
  • * 1815 , Sir , The Lady of the Isles , Canto IV, part IX
  • The warrior-threat, the infant's plain ,
    The mother's screams, were heard in vain;

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To lament, bewail.
  • to plain a loss
  • * Bishop Joseph Hall
  • Thy mother could thee for thy cradle set / Her husband's rusty iron corselet; / Whose jargling sound might rock her babe to rest, / That never plain' d of his uneasy nest.
  • * , More Poems , XXV, lines 5-9
  • Then came I crying, and to-day,
    With heavier cause to plain ,
    Depart I into death away,
    Not to be born again.

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) plain, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (wikipedia plain) (en noun)
  • An expanse of land with relatively low relief.
  • * Milton
  • Him the Ammonite / Worshipped in Rabba and her watery plain .
  • * 1961 , J. A. Philip. Mimesis in the ''Sophistês'' of Plato . In: Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92. p. 467.
  • For Plato the life of the philosopher is a life of struggle towards the goal of knowledge, towards “searching the heavens and measuring the plains , in all places seeking the nature of everything as a whole”
  • A battlefield.
  • (Arbuthnot)
  • * Shakespeare
  • Lead forth my soldiers to the plain .
  • (obsolete) A .
  • Synonyms
    * flatlands * high plain * plateau * prairie * steppe
    Antonyms
    * cliff * gorge * mountain * vale
    Derived terms
    * abyssal plain * alluvial plain * flood plain/floodplain * gibber plain * Great Plains * peneplain * Plains * plain wanderer * salt plain * the rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain
    See also
    * grassland * meadow

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface.
  • * Wither
  • We would rake Europe rather, plain the East.
  • (obsolete) To make plain or manifest; to explain.
  • * Shakespeare
  • What's dumb in show, I'll plain in speech.

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * English degree adverbs ----