prefer vs kick upstairs

prefer and kick upstairs both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
prefer	No	No	Yes	No
kick upstairs	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, kick upstairs is a hypernym of prefer; that is, kick upstairs is a word with a broader meaning than prefer:

Other hypernyms of prefer include advance, elevate, promote, raise, upgrade.

prefer (verb)	kick upstairs (verb)
select as an alternative over another	give a promotion to or assign to a higher position
like better; value more highly
promote over another
give preference to one creditor over another