pick

[ pik ]

/ pɪk /

verb (used with object)

to choose or select from among a group: to pick a contestant from the audience.

to seek and find occasion for; provoke: to pick a fight.

to attempt to find; seek out: to pick flaws in an argument.

to steal the contents of: Her pocket was picked yesterday.

to open (a lock) with a device other than the key, as a sharp instrument or wire, especially for the purpose of burglary.

to pierce, indent, dig into, or break up (something) with a pointed instrument: to pick rock; to pick ore.

to form (a hole) by such action: to pick a hole in asphalt.

to use a pointed instrument, the fingers, the teeth, the beak, etc., on (a thing), in order to remove or loosen something, as a small part or adhering matter: to pick one's teeth.

to prepare for use by removing a covering piece by piece, as feathers, hulls, or other parts: to pick a fowl.

to detach or remove piece by piece with the fingers: She picked the meat from the bones.

to pluck or gather one by one: to pick flowers.

(of birds or other animals) to take up (small bits of food) with the bill or teeth.

to eat daintily or in small morsels.

to separate, pull apart, or pull to pieces: to pick fibers.

Music.

to pluck (the strings of an instrument).
to play (a stringed instrument) by plucking with the fingers.

verb (used without object)

to strike with or use a pick or other pointed instrument on something.

(of birds or other animals) to take up small bits of food with the bill or teeth: The hens were busily picking about in their coop.

to select carefully or fastidiously.

to pilfer; steal.

to pluck or gather fruit, flowers, etc.

Basketball. to execute a pick.

noun

the act of choosing or selecting; choice; selection: to take one's pick.

a person or thing that is selected: He is our pick for president.

the choicest or most desirable part, example, or examples: This horse is the pick of the stable.

the right of selection: He gave me my pick of the litter.

the quantity of a crop picked, as from trees, bushes, etc., at a particular time: The pick was poor this season.

Printing.

a speck of dirt, hardened ink, or extra metal on set type or a plate.
a small area removed from the surface of a coated paper by ink that adheres to the form.

a stroke with something pointed: The rock shattered at the first pick of the ax.

Basketball. an offensive maneuver in which a player moves into a position between a defender and a teammate with the ball so as to prevent the defender from interfering with the shot. Compare pick-and-roll.

Verb Phrases

pick at,

to find fault with unnecessarily or persistently; nag.
to eat sparingly or daintily: As he was ill, he only picked at his food.
to grasp at; touch; handle: The baby loved to pick at her mother's glasses.

pick off,

to remove by pulling or plucking off.
to single out and shoot: The hunter picked off a duck rising from the marsh.
Baseball. to put out (a base runner) in a pick-off play.

pick on,

Informal. to criticize or blame; tease; harass.
to single out; choose: The professor always picks on me to translate long passages.

pick out,

to choose; designate: to pick out one's successor.
to distinguish from that which surrounds or accompanies; recognize: to pick out a well-known face in a crowd.
to discern (sense or meaning); discriminate.
to play (a melody) by ear; work out note by note.
to extract by picking.

pick over, to examine (an assortment of items) in order to make a selection: Eager shoppers were picking over the shirts on the bargain tables.

pick up,

to lift or take up: to pick up a stone.
to collect, especially in an orderly manner: Pick up the tools when you're finished.
to recover (one's courage, health, etc.); regain.
to gain by occasional opportunity; obtain casually: to pick up a livelihood.
to learn, as by experience: I've picked up a few Japanese phrases.
to claim: to pick up one's bags at an airport.
to take (a person or thing) into a car or ship, etc., or along with one.
to bring into range of reception, observation, etc.: to pick up Rome on one's radio.
to accelerate; gain (speed).
to put in good order; tidy: to pick up a room.
to make progress; improve: Business is beginning to pick up.
to catch or contract, as a disease.
Informal. to become acquainted with informally or casually, often in hope of a sexual relationship: Let's pick up some dates tonight.
to resume or continue after being left off: Let's pick up the discussion in our next meeting.
Informal. to take into custody; arrest: They picked him up for vagrancy.
Informal. to obtain; find; purchase: She picked up some nice shoes on sale.
Slang. to steal: to pick up jewels and silver.
to accept, as in order to pay: to pick up the check.

pick up on, Informal.

become aware or cognizant of; be perceptive about; notice: to pick up on the hostess's hostility.
to pay special attention to; keep an eye on: to pick up on a troubled student.

Idioms for pick

pick and choose, to be very careful or particular in choosing: With such a limited supply of fresh fruit, you won't be able to pick and choose.

pick apart, to criticize severely or in great detail: They picked her apart the moment she left the room.

pick it up, Informal. to move, work, etc., at a faster rate.

pick one's way/steps, to walk with care and deliberation: She picked her way across the muddy field.

pick someone's brains. brain(def 12).

Origin of pick

1250–1300; v. Middle English pyken, pikken, pekken, cognate with Dutch pikken, German picken, Old Norse pikka to pick; akin to peck², pike⁵; (noun) derivative of the v.

SYNONYMS FOR pick

4 rob, pilfer.

12 reap, collect.

synonym study for pick

1. See choose.

OTHER WORDS FROM pick

pick·a·ble, adjective un·pick·a·ble, adjective

Words nearby pick

piceous, pich, pichiciago, pichiciego, picinni, pick, pick 'n' mix, pick a bone with, pick a quarrel, pick and choose, pick and mix

Example sentences from the Web for pick-up

We have to do some pick-up shots here and there, but for the most part.

Jeremy Renner Opens Up About Marriage, His Problems with the Media, and the Future of Hawk-Eye |Marlow Stern |September 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
It begins with an elegaic image of a guy in a pick-up truck, illuminated by the setting sun.

Why is This London Commuter in an Obama Ad? |Tim Teeman |February 5, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Also included are members of the Pick-Up Artist movement, which is exactly what it sounds like.

The Masculine Mystique |R. Tod Kelly |October 20, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
A pick-up truck loaded with Iraqi soldiers appeared seemingly out of nowhere and Childers was hit once in the stomach.

The First American Casualties of our Iraq “Adventure” |Michael Daly |March 20, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

Young Palestinian men stood in the back of pick-up trucks to wave massive Palestinian flags.

Hoping For An Intifada At Jaradat's Funeral |Anna Lekas Miller |February 26, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
The passage contains a plunger and acts as a pick-up device.

Aviation Engines |Victor Wilfred Pag
She was debating over her most feasible bill of fare, now that a "pick-up dinner" seemed no longer possible.

Meadow Grass |Alice Brown
But, Bobby, you mustn't complain if I give you a 'pick-up meal.'

A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband |Louise Bennett Weaver
Lovelace, you are not fit to be captain of a pick-up, let alone a school Colts side.

The Loom of Youth |Alec Waugh
This is immediately drawn through the pick-up passage and gives the desired mixture for acceleration.

Aviation Engines |Victor Wilfred Pag

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (1 of 4)

pick-up

noun

Also called: pick-up arm, tone arm the light balanced arm of a record player that carries the wires from the cartridge to the preamplifier

an electromagnetic transducer that converts the vibrations of the steel strings of an electric guitar or other amplified instrument into electric signals

another name for cartridge (def. 3)

Also called: pick-up truck a small truck with an open body and low sides, used for light deliveries

informal, mainly US an ability to accelerate rapidly this car has good pick-up

informal a casual acquaintance, usually one made with sexual intentions

informal

a stop to collect passengers, goods, etc
the people or things collected

slang a free ride in a motor vehicle

informal an improvement

slang a pick-me-up

adjective

US and Canadian organized, arranged, or assembled hastily and without planning a pick-up band; pick-up games

verb pick up (adverb)

(tr) to gather up in the hand or hands

(tr) to acquire, obtain, or purchase casually, incidentally, etc

(tr) to catch (a disease) she picked up a bad cold during the weekend

(intr) to improve in health, condition, activity, etc the market began to pick up

(reflexive) to raise (oneself) after a fall or setback

(tr) to notice or sense she picked up a change in his attitude

to resume where one left off; return to we'll pick up after lunch; they picked up the discussion

(tr) to learn gradually or as one goes along

(tr) to take responsibility for paying (a bill) he picked up the bill for dinner

(tr) informal to reprimand he picked her up on her table manners

(tr) to collect or give a lift to (passengers, hitchhikers, goods, etc)

(tr) informal to become acquainted with, esp with a view to having sexual relations

(tr) informal to arrest

to increase (speed) the cars picked up down the straight

(tr) to receive (electrical signals, a radio signal, sounds, etc), as for transmission or amplification

pick up the pieces to restore a situation to normality after a crisis or collapse

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (2 of 4)

pick ¹

/ (pɪk) /

verb

to choose (something) deliberately or carefully, from or as if from a group or number; select

to pluck or gather (fruit, berries, or crops) from (a tree, bush, field, etc) to pick hops; to pick a whole bush

(tr) to clean or prepare (fruit, poultry, etc) by removing the indigestible parts

(tr) to remove loose particles from (the teeth, the nose, etc)

(esp of birds) to nibble or gather (corn, etc)

(when intr, foll by at) to nibble (at) fussily or without appetite

to separate (strands, fibres, etc), as in weaving

(tr) to provoke (an argument, fight, etc) deliberately

(tr) to steal (money or valuables) from (a person's pocket)

(tr) to open (a lock) with an instrument other than a key

to pluck the strings of (a guitar, banjo, etc)

(tr) to make (one's way) carefully on foot they picked their way through the rubble

pick and choose to select fastidiously, fussily, etc

pick someone's brains to obtain information or ideas from someone

noun

freedom or right of selection (esp in the phrase take one's pick)

a person, thing, etc, that is chosen first or preferred the pick of the bunch

the act of picking

the amount of a crop picked at one period or from one area

printing a speck of dirt or paper fibre or a blob of ink on the surface of set type or a printing plate

See also pick at, pick off, pick on, pick out, pick-up

Derived forms of pick

pickable, adjective

Word Origin for pick

C15: from earlier piken to pick, influenced by French piquer to pierce; compare Middle Low German picken, Dutch pikken

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (3 of 4)

pick ²

/ (pɪk) /

noun

a tool with a handle carrying a long steel head curved and tapering to a point at one or both ends, used for loosening soil, breaking rocks, etc

any of various tools used for picking, such as an ice pick or toothpick

a plectrum

verb

(tr) to pierce, dig, or break up (a hard surface) with a pick

(tr) to form (a hole) in this way

Word Origin for pick

C14: perhaps variant of pike ²

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (4 of 4)

pick ³

/ (in weaving pɪk) /

verb

(tr) to cast (a shuttle)

noun

one casting of a shuttle

a weft or filling thread

Word Origin for pick

C14: variant of pitch 1

Idioms and Phrases with pick-up

pick

In addition to the idioms beginning with pick

pick a bone with
pick and choose
pick apart
pick a quarrel
pick at
picked over
pick holes in
pick off
pick of the litter
pick on
pick one's way
pick out
pick over
pick someone's brain
pick to pieces
pick up
pick up on
pick up the pieces

also see:

bone to pick
slim pickings

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

pick

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Verb Phrases

Idioms for pick

Origin of pick

SYNONYMS FOR pick

synonym study for pick

OTHER WORDS FROM pick

Words nearby pick

Example sentences from the Web for pick-up

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (1 of 4)

noun

adjective

verb pick up (adverb)

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (2 of 4)

verb

noun

Derived forms of pick

Word Origin for pick

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (3 of 4)

noun

verb

Word Origin for pick

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (4 of 4)

verb

noun

Word Origin for pick

Idioms and Phrases with pick-up

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

pick

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Verb Phrases

Idioms for pick

Origin of pick

SYNONYMS FOR pick

synonym study for pick

OTHER WORDS FROM pick

Words nearby pick

Example sentences from the Web for pick-up

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (1 of 4)

noun

adjective

verb pick up (adverb)

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (2 of 4)

verb

noun

Derived forms of pick

Word Origin for pick

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (3 of 4)

noun

verb

Word Origin for pick

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (4 of 4)

verb

noun

Word Origin for pick

Idioms and Phrases with pick-up

British Dictionary definitions for pick-up (1 of 4)