/kik"euhr/ , n.
1. a person or thing that kicks.
2. Informal.
a. 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.
b. 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, esp. leisure shoes.
7. Naut.
a. a small, low-powered outboard motor.
b. 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 . Print., Journalism. a short line of copy set in a distinctive type above a headline and intended to call attention to it.
10. Metall. 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 . Photog. a light source coming from the back and side of a subject and producing a highlight.
[ 1565-75; KICK + -ER 1 ]