kick off the season

Meaning

Originating from sports (where a kickoff starts a football match), this phrase means to officially begin a new season of an activity, such as sports, theater, fashion, television, or festivals. It implies an energetic, celebratory, or highly anticipated start.

Examples

• The theater group is going to kick off the season with a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

  The theater group is going to kick off the season with a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

• We always kick off the summer season with a massive barbecue in the backyard.

  We always kick off the summer season with a massive barbecue in the backyard.

• The football team hopes to kick off the season with a big win this Friday night.

  The football team hopes to kick off the season with a big win this Friday night.

• They decided to kick off the fashion season by launching a completely sustainable clothing line.

  They decided to kick off the fashion season by launching a completely sustainable clothing line.

• The film festival will kick off the season next week, showcasing over fifty indie movies.

  The film festival will kick off the season next week, showcasing over fifty indie movies.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We will start kick off the season tomorrow.

  ✓ We will kick off the season tomorrow.

  'Kick off' is a verb phrase itself. Adding another verb like 'start' before it is redundant and grammatically incorrect.

• ✗ The concert kicked up the music season.

  ✓ The concert kicked off the music season.

  'Kick up' means to cause trouble or increase. To begin something, you must use the phrasal verb 'kick off'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The band is planning to ___ with a major concert in New York.

  💡 Use the base form of the phrase after 'to'.

  Show answer

  kick off the season

• How are we going to ___ of our favorite TV show?

  💡 This phrase refers to starting the new series of episodes.

  Show answer

  kick off the season