kick some tires

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Examine or test something informally

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

kiểm tra hoặc thử nghiệm một cách không chính thức

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: check the condition of a vehicle
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Before investing, I like to kick some tires and see how the company operates

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “kick some tires” mean?

Examine or test something informally Literally: check the condition of a vehicle

Is “kick some tires” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.