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• n  (football) a kick from the center of the field to start a football game or to resume it after a score
• n  the time at which something is supposed to begin
• n  a start given to contestants
  I was there with my parents at the kickoff

• There was the same sense of tension, the same feeling of rising excitement, the same hope of glory to be won, as though the two teams were poised for a kickoff.
• The president-elect delivers remarks following a star-studded kickoff of Inaugural activities Sunday outside the Lincoln Memorial.
• The kickoff of the air and ground assault: First Stop, Iraq How Iraq jumped to the top of Bush's agenda: Inside Saddam's Head Why did the Iraqi ruler stand his ground?.

• beginning
• commencement
• first
• outset
• get-go
• start
• starting time
• showtime
• offset
• send-off
• start-off

• end

News & Articles

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• Claros campaign kickoff party slated
  WORCESTER - Republican Carol Claros will hold an official campaign kickoff party at 7 p.m. Tuesday to announce her candidacy for state representative for the 16th Worcester District.
  June 16, 2013 - Worcester Telegram & Gazette
• Summer kickoff celebration draws thousands (with video)
  After a long winter and late spring, more than 5,000 people jammed into Wausau's Oak Island Park on Friday for the city's official kickoff for the summer's season of entertainment.
  June 15, 2013 - Wausau Daily Herald
• Erin Stewart Campaign Kickoff Is June 20
  School board member Erin Stewart plans a formal kickoff of her mayoral campaign on June 20 at 6:30 p.m. at Stanley Golf Course's Whinstone Tavern.        
  June 14, 2013 - Hartford Courant

Quotes

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• Mark Shurtleff in CNN
  We've established that from the very first day, from the very fist kickoff in the college season, more than half of the schools are put on an unlevel playing field,Shurtleff said Tuesday. "They will never be allowed to play for a national...
• Charlene Wittstock in The Zimbabwe Standard
  He called me just before kickoff and I wanted to get the whole thing over and done with before the game, Wittstock joked.
• Rudy Giuliani in Guardian Unlimited
  This is just the beginning. Think of it as the kickoff in what's going to be a very long and very tough game,Giuliani told about 100 supporters in a hotel ballroom. "By the time it's over with, by February 5th, it's going to be clear that...