A punt is made by letting the ball drop from the hands and kicking it just before it touches the ground.
1919, Sherwood Anderson, “The Teacher: concerning Kate Swift”, in Winesburg, Ohio:
Will Henderson, who had on a light overcoat and no overshoes, kicked the heel of his left foot with the toe of the right.
2020 September 9, Jason Chamberlain, “The growing likelihood of a 'different type of railway'”, in Rail, page 45:
Or to put it in the more colourful language of our Prime Minister: "The secret to improving rail transport, in my view, is you need to find the right arse to kick." Unfortunately, since the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in 2005, the DfT has ostensibly been in direct control of railway policy setting, and this has meant that the only arse the government has been able to kick is its own.
(intransitive) To make a sharp jerking movement of the leg, as to strike something.
He enjoyed the simple pleasure of watching the kickline kick.
"He's been mad at me ever since I fired him off'n my payroll. After I kicked him off'n my ranch he run for sheriff, and the night of the election everybody was so drunk they voted for him by mistake, or for a joke, or somethin', and since he's been in office he's been lettin' the sheepmen steal me right out of house and home."
2003, Jennifer C. D. Groomes, The Falcon Project, page 174:
Lying on the ground, when fired, it kicked me back a foot. There was no way a person my size was going to be able to do an effective job with this gun.
A kick of his boot-heel sent the door flying into the room.
2011, Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England:
Elsad Zverotic gave Montenegro hope with a goal with the last kick of the first half - and when Rooney was deservedly shown red by referee Wolfgang Stark, England were placed under pressure they could not survive.
1946, Bobby Troup (lyrics and music), “Route 66”, performed by Nat King Cole:
Won't you get hip to this kindly tip / When you ride that California trip / Get your kicks on Route 66
1954 January 4, “I Get a Kick Out of You”, in Songs for Young Lovers, performed by Frank Sinatra:
I get no kick from champagne. Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all. So tell me why should it be true that I get a kick out of you. Some hey may go for cocaine. I'm sure that if I took even one sniff it would bore me terrifically, too. Yet, I get a kick out of you.[…]I get no kick in a plane. Flying too high with some gal in the sky is my idea of nothing to do. Yet I get a kick. You give me a boot. I get a kick out of you.
2005, Melissa L. Rossi, What every American should know about who's really running the world, page 211:
Who knows what will happen to his billions when the eighty-five-year-old kicks, but before he leaves the planet, Moon reportedly is hell-bent on creating a holy land in North Korea, dedicated to him.