kick over the traces To disregard what is expected and follow your own wishes. Traces are the leather harness straps by which a horse is attached to a wagon or another vehicle. When the animal becomes upset, it may well kick out and end up stepping over the traces. At that point the driver has little or no control in steering or stopping.

1 a : to strike out with the foot or feet. b : to make a kick in football. 2 a : to show opposition : resist, rebel. b : to protest strenuously or urgently : express grave discontent broadly : complain. 3 : to function with vitality and energy alive and kicking. 4 of a firearm : to recoil when fired.

See synonyms for kick over the traces on Thesaurus.com. Break loose from restraint, misbehave. For example, There's always one child who'll kick over the traces as soon as the bell rings. This metaphoric expression alludes to the straps attaching a horse to a vehicle, which the animal sometimes gets a leg over in order to kick more freely and thereby refuse to move forward.

kick over the traces To disregard what is expected and follow your own wishes. Traces are the leather harness straps by which a horse is attached to a wagon or another vehicle. When the animal becomes upset, it may well kick out and end up stepping over the traces. At that point the driver has little or no control in steering or stopping.

kick over the traces To disregard what is expected and follow your own wishes. Traces are the leather harness straps by which a horse is attached to a wagon or another vehicle. When the animal becomes upset, it may well kick out and end up stepping over the traces. At that point the driver has little or no control in steering or stopping.

kick over the traces To act in a way that contravenes social expectations or propriety: "As soon as the opportunity presented itself, [he] kicked over the traces and threw himself into a life of pleasure" (K.D. Reynolds).

kick over the traces. old-fashioned informal. to behave badly and show no respect for authority. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases.

Kick over the traces - Kicking over the traces is wild rebellious behaviour or being out of control. It comes from when a horse in harness got a rear leg over the traces, which attach it to the vehicle, it started pulling and became uncontrollable.