From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishkick around phrasal verb1 DISCUSS kick something around to think about or discuss an idea before making a decision We kicked that suggestion around and in the end decided to go ahead.2 CRUEL kick somebody around to treat someone badly and unfairly I have my pride, you know. They can’t kick me around.3 kick around (something) to be in a place doing things, but without any firm plans SYN knock around He kicked around India for a few months.4 to be left in a place untidily or forgotten There’s a copy of the report kicking around somewhere. → kick→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
kick around• Journalists have always had inflight magazines to kick around.• Civic promotion is an idea that had been kicked around before.• He believed they understood what it was like to be kicked around by white men.• Being kicked around can be a real eye opener.• Throughout all of this Manchester United has been kicked around like a football.• These meetings are useful for kicking around preliminary ideas.• Academics have been kicking around the idea for three decades.• But the fact is Lombardi and Barnett have kicked around the idea of Grtezky joining the Sharks.kick around (something)• Journalists have always had inflight magazines to kick around.• Children whom everyone was too exhausted to stop were kicking around an empty fizzy-drink can.• Civic promotion is an idea that had been kicked around before.• He believed they understood what it was like to be kicked around by white men.• Being kicked around can be a real eye opener.• Throughout all of this Manchester United has been kicked around like a football.• But the fact is Lombardi and Barnett have kicked around the idea of Grtezky joining the Sharks. 