godan verb (-su)
kick back
Used when someone or something kicks in return, or when a ball is kicked back.
彼はボールを蹴り返した。
He kicked the ball back.
犬に蹴られたので、蹴り返した。
The dog kicked me, so I kicked it back.
Standard kanji spelling.
Mixed kana-kanji spelling; common in casual writing.
蹴る means simply 'to kick'; 蹴り返す adds the nuance of kicking back or in return.
Compound of 蹴り (kicking) + 返す (to return).