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Definition of Kick downstairs
1. Verb. Assign to a lower position; reduce in rank. "He was broken down to Sergeant"
Generic synonyms: Assign, Delegate, Depute, Designate
Specialized synonyms: Sideline, Reduce
Also: Bump Off
Derivative terms: Demotion, Relegation
Antonyms: Promote
Lexicographical Neighbors of Kick Downstairs
Literary usage of Kick downstairs
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. France Under the Regency: With a Review of the Administration of Louis XIV by James Breck Perkins (1920)
"An English statesman of this generation would kick downstairs a man who made an
offer such as Stanhope listened to graciously; but if he listened and ..."
2. The Bookworm: An Illustrated Treasury of Old-time Literature (1890)
"To make bad worse, and the annoyance inevitable, this pest is commonly some
insufferable bore, whom you cannot kick downstairs because he happens to have ..."
3. The Life of Captain Sir Richd F. Burton by Isabel Burton (1893)
"He sternly forbade " gambling," as he called card-playing, in his house, private
as well as public; and we had periodically to kick downstairs the impudent ..."
4. The Last of the Valois: And Accession of Henri of Navarre, 1559-1589 by Catherine Charlotte Jackson, Elliot Jackson (1897)
"... whom he had threatened to kick downstairs, he literally carried out his threat —
giving, of course, great offence to Henri, and annoying the poor baron ..."
5. My Life and Recollections by Grantley Fitzhardinge Berkeley (1866)
"The hit told, and instead of rough words or a kick downstairs, brandy and water
was immediately ordered to be brought in to refresh the crafty politician. ..."
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