Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

kick the can down the road

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.58 in modern English

Syllables: kick- the -can -down the road
IPA

44

Scrabble Score

21

Letters

4

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To avoid or postpone a decision or action; to procrastinate.

Informal

Example Sentences

"Ronald Lehman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategic and theater nuclear bombs, said the United States was satisfied with its land-based deterrent for many years and "there was a tendency to kick the can down the road and not pay enough attention to its problems."
"To continue haggling over points on which a consensus seems impossible, Lehman said, is to "just keep kicking the can down the road.""
"[R]eaching an alliance-wide consensus on them will be difficult. […] The natural temptation is to cling to the status quo, tinker on the edges or kick the can down the road."
"Fundamentalism is a product of decades of official complicity, cowardice and appeasement. Sooner or later, Mr Sharif will be forced to realise that. Until then, he is merely kicking the can down the road."
"[…] one might easily despair and kick the can down the road by waiting for the next generation of computers and physical and chemical probes that can be employed for in situ measurements of chemical processes before starting to implement the research program described."
"It could not have more obvious that ATC was urgently needed - yet all the new Labour Government did was make vague promises of reviews and 'consideration'. It kicked the can down the road, as did subsequent governments."

Etymology

Attested as an activity of idle urban youths since the late 19th century. The modern sense of procrastinate dates from the 1980s.

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

kicks the can down the road (present, singular) kicking the can down the road (participle, present) kicked the can down the road (participle, past) kicked the can down the road (past)

Phrases

can-kicking carry the can kick at the can kick into the long grass

Frequently Paired Words

can-kicking carry the can kick at the can kick into the long grass

Synonyms

adjourn avert defer delay dilly-dally draw out extend forslow forestall forestay kick into the long grass kick the can down the road

Questions

What does kick the can down the road mean?: To avoid or postpone a decision or action; to procrastinate.
Where does kick the can down the road come from?: Attested as an activity of idle urban youths since the late 19th century. The modern sense of procrastinate dates from the 1980s.

How to pronounce kick the can down the road

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