Definition of "kicker" []

• One that kicks: a soccer player who was an excellent kicker. (noun)
• Informal A sudden, surprising turn of events or ending; a twist. (noun)
• Informal A tricky or concealed condition; a pitfall: "The kicker is that the relationship of guide and seeker gets all mixed up with a confusing male-female attachment” ( Gail Sheehy). (noun)
• A condition that imposes an automatic increase, as in a pension plan. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The word kicker hadnt even been invented yet, but somehow Hiro had understood it all instinctively: how to make a clique huge overnight, how to convince everyone to requisition some new gadget, and most of all how to make himself legendary in the process."
• "And if an opponent shows laxness in prepping, the kicker is authorized (in all but endgame situations when a single point is needed) to audible to the two point attempt."
• "Then the kicker is they let someone else upset them enough to not vote for someone."