The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

kick off \kick` off"\ v. t.
   to begin; to commence; as, they kicked off the rally with a
   playing of the national anthem.

   Syn: begin, commence, start.
        [PJC]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

kick off \kick` off"\ v. i. (Football)
   To kick the football from the center of the field to start a
   football game or to resume it after a score; as, they kicked
   off at two o'clock.
   [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

kick off
    v 1: commence officially [syn: inaugurate, kick off]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

86 Moby Thesaurus words for "kick off":
   antecede, begin, blast away, blast off, bundle, bundle off, buy it,
   cash in, check in, check out, come before, come first, commence,
   croak, die, dive in, drop off, embark, fall to, float, front,
   get off, get to, give a start, go, go ahead, go ahead of,
   go before, go in advance, go west, have it, have priority, head,
   head into, head the table, head up, inaugurate, initiate, jump off,
   kick in, kick the bucket, knock off, launch, lead, lead off, open,
   outrank, pass, pass away, pass out, peg out, perish, pipe off,
   pitch in, plunge into, pop off, precede, put in motion, rank, rate,
   send, send forth, send off, set about, set afloat, set agoing,
   set going, set in, set in motion, set on foot, set out, set sail,
   set to, shove off, stand first, start, start going, start in,
   start off, start out, start up, step off, take off,
   take precedence, turn to, usher in