kick-the-can

See also: kick the can

English

Alternative forms

• kick the can

Noun

kick-the-can (uncountable)

1. A game played by children, similar to tag, where tagged players are freed if an untagged player manages to kick over a discarded tin can etc. set up for this purpose.
   • 1994, Richard Powers, Operation Wandering Soul, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 232:

     Each syllable, screamed by a hysteric caller in the world's last round of kick-the-can.

   • 2003, Dorothy Lilja Harrison, A Better Tomorrow?, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 70:

     And because few families could afford cars anymore, the alley was a safe place to play Captain-May-I?, kick-the-can, and bounce-out.

   • 2004, Yongsoo Park, Las Cucarachas, Akashic, →ISBN, page 7:

     If we were playing kick-the-can, it'd get everyone out of jail and make life hell for whoever's "it."