kick the tires
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Examine or test something to assess its quality or functionality
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
kiểm tra hoặc thử nghiệm để đánh giá chất lượng
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: check the condition of a vehicle's tires
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Before buying the car, she decided to kick the tires
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 the tires” mean?
Examine or test something to assess its quality or functionality Literally: check the condition of a vehicle's tires
Is “kick the tires” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.