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Definition of pick - 13 dictionary results

pick

1  [pik]
Use pick in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to choose or select from among a group: to pick a contestant from the audience.
2. to seek and find occasion for; provoke: to pick a fight.
3. to attempt to find; seek out: to pick flaws in an argument.
4. to steal the contents of: Her pocket was picked yesterday.
5. to open (a lock) with a device other than the key, as a sharp instrument or wire, esp. for the purpose of burglary.
6. to pierce, indent, dig into, or break up (something) with a pointed instrument: to pick rock; to pick ore.
7. to form (a hole) by such action: to pick a hole in asphalt.
8. 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.
9. to prepare for use by removing a covering piece by piece, as feathers, hulls, or other parts: to pick a fowl.
10. to detach or remove piece by piece with the fingers: She picked the meat from the bones.
11. to pluck or gather one by one: to pick flowers.
12. (of birds or other animals) to take up (small bits of food) with the bill or teeth.
13. to eat daintily or in small morsels.
14. to separate, pull apart, or pull to pieces: to pick fibers.
15. Music.
a. to pluck (the strings of an instrument).
b. to play (a stringed instrument) by plucking with the fingers.
–verb (used without object)
16. to strike with or use a pick or other pointed instrument on something.
17. (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.
18. to select carefully or fastidiously.
19. to pilfer; steal.
20. to pluck or gather fruit, flowers, etc.
21. Basketball. to execute a pick.
–noun
22. the act of choosing or selecting; choice; selection: to take one's pick.
23. a person or thing that is selected: He is our pick for president.
24. the choicest or most desirable part, example, or examples: This horse is the pick of the stable.
25. the right of selection: He gave me my pick of the litter.
26. the quantity of a crop picked, as from trees, bushes, etc., at a particular time: The pick was poor this season.
27. Printing.
a. a speck of dirt, hardened ink, or extra metal on set type or a plate.
b. a small area removed from the surface of a coated paper by ink that adheres to the form.
28. a stroke with something pointed: The rock shattered at the first pick of the ax.
29. 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.
—Verb phrases
30. pick at,
a. to find fault with unnecessarily or persistently; nag.
b. to eat sparingly or daintily: As he was ill, he only picked at his food.
c. to grasp at; touch; handle: The baby loved to pick at her mother's glasses.
31. pick off,
a. to remove by pulling or plucking off.
b. to single out and shoot: The hunter picked off a duck rising from the marsh.
c. Baseball. to put out (a base runner) in a pick-off play.
32. pick on,
a. Informal. to criticize or blame; tease; harass.
b. to single out; choose: The professor always picks on me to translate long passages.
33. pick out,
a. to choose; designate: to pick out one's successor.
b. to distinguish from that which surrounds or accompanies; recognize: to pick out a well-known face in a crowd.
c. to discern (sense or meaning); discriminate.
d. to play (a melody) by ear; work out note by note.
e. to extract by picking.
34. 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.
35. pick up,
a. to lift or take up: to pick up a stone.
b. to collect, esp. in an orderly manner: Pick up the tools when you're finished.
c. to recover (one's courage, health, etc.); regain.
d. to gain by occasional opportunity; obtain casually: to pick up a livelihood.
e. to learn, as by experience: I've picked up a few Japanese phrases.
f. to claim: to pick up one's bags at an airport.
g. to take (a person or thing) into a car or ship, etc., or along with one.
h. to bring into range of reception, observation, etc.: to pick up Rome on one's radio.
i. to accelerate; gain (speed).
j. to put in good order; tidy: to pick up a room.
k. to make progress; improve: Business is beginning to pick up.
l. to catch or contract, as a disease.
m. Informal. to become acquainted with informally or casually, often in hope of a sexual relationship: Let's pick up some dates tonight.
n. to resume or continue after being left off: Let's pick up the discussion in our next meeting.
o. Informal. to take into custody; arrest: They picked him up for vagrancy.
p. Informal. to obtain; find; purchase: She picked up some nice shoes on sale.
q. Slang. to steal: to pick up jewels and silver.
r. to accept, as in order to pay: to pick up the check.
36. pick up on, Informal.
a. become aware or cognizant of; be perceptive about; notice: to pick up on the hostess's hostility.
b. to pay special attention to; keep an eye on: to pick up on a troubled student.
—Idioms
37. 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.
38. pick apart, to criticize severely or in great detail: They picked her apart the moment she left the room.
39. pick it up, Informal. to move, work, etc., at a faster rate.
40. pick one's way or steps, to walk with care and deliberation: She picked her way across the muddy field.
41. pick someone's brains. brain (def. 12).
Origin:
1250–1300; v. ME pyken, pikken, pekken, c. D pikken, G picken, ON pikka to pick; akin to peck 2 , pike 5 ; (n.) deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
pick⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. See choose. 4. rob, pilfer. 12. reap, collect.

pick

2  [pik]
–noun
1. a heavy tool consisting of an iron or steel head, usually curved, tapering to a point at one or both ends, mounted on a wooden handle, and used for loosening and breaking up soil, rock, etc.; pickax.
2. a hammerlike tool for the rough dressing of stone, having two sharp, pyramidal faces.
3. any pointed or other tool or instrument for picking (often used in combination): a toothpick; an ice pick.
4. Music. plectrum.
5. Slang. a large pocket comb having long, widely spaced teeth.
Origin:
1300–50; ME pikk(e); perh. var. of pike 5

pick

3  [pik] Textiles.
–verb (used with object)
1. to cast (a shuttle).
–noun
2. (in a loom) one passage of the shuttle.
3. filling (def. 5).
Origin:
var. of pitch 1

fill⋅ing

  [fil-ing]
–noun
1. an act or instance of filling.
2. something that is put in to fill something else: They used sand as filling for the depression.
3. Dentistry. a substance such as cement, amalgam, gold, or the like, used to fill a cavity caused by decay in a tooth.
4. a food mixture that goes into something, as if to fill it: sandwich filling; pie filling.
5. Also called pick, weft, woof. Textiles. yarn carried by the shuttle and interlacing at right angles with the warp in woven cloth.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME; see fill, -ing 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pick
pick 1   (pĭk)   
v.   picked, pick·ing, picks

v.   tr.
    1. To select from a group: The best swimmer was picked.
    2. To select or cull.
    3. To gather in; harvest: They were picking cotton.
    4. To gather the harvest from: picked the field in one day.
    5. To remove the outer covering of; pluck: pick a chicken clean of feathers.
    6. To tear off bit by bit: pick meat from the bones.
    7. To pluck (an instrument's strings).
    8. To play (an instrument) by plucking its strings.
    9. To play (a tune) in this manner: picked a melody out on the guitar.
    1. To gather in; harvest: They were picking cotton.
    2. To gather the harvest from: picked the field in one day.
    3. To remove the outer covering of; pluck: pick a chicken clean of feathers.
    4. To tear off bit by bit: pick meat from the bones.
    5. To pluck (an instrument's strings).
    6. To play (an instrument) by plucking its strings.
    7. To play (a tune) in this manner: picked a melody out on the guitar.
    1. To remove the outer covering of; pluck: pick a chicken clean of feathers.
    2. To tear off bit by bit: pick meat from the bones.
    3. To pluck (an instrument's strings).
    4. To play (an instrument) by plucking its strings.
    5. To play (a tune) in this manner: picked a melody out on the guitar.
  4. To remove extraneous matter from (the teeth).
  5. To poke and pull at (something) with the fingers.
  6. To break up, separate, or detach by means of a sharp pointed instrument.
  7. To pierce or make (a hole) with a sharp pointed instrument.
  8. To take up (food) with the beak; peck: The parrot picked its seed.
  9. To steal the contents of: My pocket was picked.
  10. To open (a lock) without the use of a key.
  11. To provoke: pick a fight.
  12. Music
    1. To pluck (an instrument's strings).
    2. To play (an instrument) by plucking its strings.
    3. To play (a tune) in this manner: picked a melody out on the guitar.
v.   intr.
  1. To decide with care or forethought.
  2. To work with a pick.
  3. To find fault or make petty criticisms; carp: He's always picking about something.
  4. To be harvested or gathered: The ripe apples picked easily.
n.  
  1. The act of picking, especially with a sharp pointed instrument.
  2. The act of selecting or choosing; choice: got first pick of the desserts.
  3. Something selected as the most desirable; the best or choicest part: the pick of the crop.
  4. The amount or quantity of a crop that is picked by hand.
  5. Basketball A screen.
  6. To pluck or pull at, especially with the fingers.
  7. To eat sparingly or without appetite: The child just picked at the food.
  8. Informal To nag: Don't pick at me.
  9. To shoot after singling out: The hunter picked the ducks off one by one.
  10. Baseball To catch (a base runner) off base and put out with a quick throw, as from the pitcher or catcher, often to a specified base.
  11. Sports To intercept, as a football pass.
  12. To choose or select: picked out a nice watch.
  13. To discern from the surroundings; distinguish: picked out their cousins from the crowd.
    1. To take up (something) by hand: pick up a book.
    2. To collect or gather: picked up some pebbles.
    3. To tidy up: picked up the bedroom.
    4. To acquire casually or by accident: picked up a new coat on sale.
    5. To acquire (knowledge) by learning or experience: picked up French quickly.
    6. To claim: picked up her car at the repair shop.
    7. To buy: picked up some milk at the store.
    8. To accept (a bill or charge) in order to pay it: Let me pick up the tab.
    9. To come down with (a disease): picked up a virus at school.
    10. To gain: picked up five yards on that play.
    11. To come upon and follow: The dog picked up the scent.
    12. To come upon and observe: picked up two submarines on sonar.
  15. To take on (passengers or freight, for example): The bus picks up commuters at five stops.
  16. Informal
    1. To acquire casually or by accident: picked up a new coat on sale.
    2. To acquire (knowledge) by learning or experience: picked up French quickly.
    3. To claim: picked up her car at the repair shop.
    4. To buy: picked up some milk at the store.
    5. To accept (a bill or charge) in order to pay it: Let me pick up the tab.
    6. To come down with (a disease): picked up a virus at school.
    7. To gain: picked up five yards on that play.
    8. To come upon and follow: The dog picked up the scent.
    9. To come upon and observe: picked up two submarines on sonar.
  17. Informal To take into custody: The agents picked up six smugglers.
  18. Slang To make casual acquaintance with, usually in anticipation of sexual relations.
    1. To come upon and follow: The dog picked up the scent.
    2. To come upon and observe: picked up two submarines on sonar.
  20. To continue after a break: Let's pick up the discussion after lunch.
  21. Informal To improve in condition or activity: Sales picked up last fall.
  22. Slang To prepare a sudden departure: She just picked up and left.
Phrasal Verb(s):
pick apartTo refute or find flaws in by close examination: The lawyer picked the testimony apart.
pick at
  1. To pluck or pull at, especially with the fingers.
  2. To eat sparingly or without appetite: The child just picked at the food.
  3. Informal To nag: Don't pick at me.
pick off
  1. To shoot after singling out: The hunter picked the ducks off one by one.
  2. Baseball To catch (a base runner) off base and put out with a quick throw, as from the pitcher or catcher, often to a specified base.
  3. Sports To intercept, as a football pass.
pick onTo tease or bully.
pick out
  1. To choose or select: picked out a nice watch.
  2. To discern from the surroundings; distinguish: picked out their cousins from the crowd.
pick overTo sort out or examine item by item: picked over the grapes before buying them.
pick up
    1. To take up (something) by hand: pick up a book.
    2. To collect or gather: picked up some pebbles.
    3. To tidy up: picked up the bedroom.
    4. To acquire casually or by accident: picked up a new coat on sale.
    5. To acquire (knowledge) by learning or experience: picked up French quickly.
    6. To claim: picked up her car at the repair shop.
    7. To buy: picked up some milk at the store.
    8. To accept (a bill or charge) in order to pay it: Let me pick up the tab.
    9. To come down with (a disease): picked up a virus at school.
    10. To gain: picked up five yards on that play.
    11. To come upon and follow: The dog picked up the scent.
    12. To come upon and observe: picked up two submarines on sonar.
  2. To take on (passengers or freight, for example): The bus picks up commuters at five stops.
  3. Informal
    1. To acquire casually or by accident: picked up a new coat on sale.
    2. To acquire (knowledge) by learning or experience: picked up French quickly.
    3. To claim: picked up her car at the repair shop.
    4. To buy: picked up some milk at the store.
    5. To accept (a bill or charge) in order to pay it: Let me pick up the tab.
    6. To come down with (a disease): picked up a virus at school.
    7. To gain: picked up five yards on that play.
    8. To come upon and follow: The dog picked up the scent.
    9. To come upon and observe: picked up two submarines on sonar.
  4. Informal To take into custody: The agents picked up six smugglers.
  5. Slang To make casual acquaintance with, usually in anticipation of sexual relations.
    1. To come upon and follow: The dog picked up the scent.
    2. To come upon and observe: picked up two submarines on sonar.
  7. To continue after a break: Let's pick up the discussion after lunch.
  8. Informal To improve in condition or activity: Sales picked up last fall.
  9. Slang To prepare a sudden departure: She just picked up and left.

Idiom(s):
pick and chooseTo select with great care.

Idiom(s):
pick holes inTo seek and discover flaws or a flaw in: picked holes in the argument.

Idiom(s):
pick (one's) wayTo find passage and make careful progress through it: picked her way down the slope.

Idiom(s):
pick (someone) to piecesTo criticize sharply.

Idiom(s):
pick up on Informal
  1. To take into the mind and understand, typically with speed: is quick to pick up on new computer skills.
  2. To notice: picked up on my roommate's bad mood and left him alone.

[Middle English piken, to prick, from Old English *pīcian, to prick, and from Old French piquer, to pierce (from Vulgar Latin *piccāre; see pique).]
pick'er n.
pick 2   (pĭk)   
n.  
  1. A tool for breaking hard surfaces, consisting of a curved bar sharpened at both ends and fitted to a long handle.
    1. Something, such as an ice pick, toothpick, or picklock, used for picking.
    2. A long-toothed comb, usually designed for use on curly hair.
    3. A pointed projection on the front of the blade of a figure skate.
  3. Music A plectrum.

[Middle English pik, variant of pike, sharp point; see pike5.]
pick 3   (pĭk)   
n.  
  1. A weft thread in weaving.
  2. A passage or throw of the shuttle in a loom.
tr.v.   picked, pick·ing, picks
  1. To throw (a shuttle) across a loom.
  2. Archaic To cast; pitch.

[Dialectal, from pick, to pitch, thrust, variant of pitch2.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Pick

Pick\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Picked; p. pr. & vb. n. Picking.] [OE. picken, pikken, to prick, peck; akin to Icel. pikka, Sw. picka, Dan. pikke, D. pikken, G. picken, F. piquer, W. pigo. Cf. Peck, v., Pike, Pitch to throw.]

1. To throw; to pitch. [Obs.]

As high as I could pick my lance. --Shak.

2. To peck at, as a bird with its beak; to strike at with anything pointed; to act upon with a pointed instrument; to pierce; to prick, as with a pin.

3. To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points; as, to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.

4. To open (a lock) as by a wire.

5. To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck; to gather, as fruit from a tree, flowers from the stalk, feathers from a fowl, etc.

6. To remove something from with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth; as, to pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket.

Did you pick Master Slender's purse? --Shak.

He picks clean teeth, and, busy as he seems With an old tavern quill, is hungry yet. --Cowper.

7. To choose; to select; to separate as choice or desirable; to cull; as, to pick one's company; to pick one's way; -- often with out. "One man picked out of ten thousand." --Shak.

8. To take up; esp., to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together; as, to pick rags; -- often with up; as, to pick up a ball or stones; to pick up information.

9. To trim. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

To pick at, to tease or vex by pertinacious annoyance.

To pick a bone with. See under Bone.

To pick a thank, to curry favor. [Obs.] --Robynson (More's Utopia).

To pick off. (a) To pluck; to remove by picking. (b) To shoot or bring down, one by one; as, sharpshooters pick off the enemy.

To pick out. (a) To mark out; to variegate; as, to pick out any dark stuff with lines or spots of bright colors. (b) To select from a number or quantity.

To pick to pieces, to pull apart piece by piece; hence [Colloq.], to analyze; esp., to criticize in detail.

To pick a quarrel, to give occasion of quarrel intentionally.

To pick up. (a) To take up, as with the fingers. (b) To get by repeated efforts; to gather here and there; as, to pick up a livelihood; to pick up news.

Pick

Pick\, v. i. 1. To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.

Why stand'st thou picking? Is thy palate sore? --Dryden.

2. To do anything nicely or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.

3. To steal; to pilfer. "To keep my hands from picking and stealing." --Book of Com. Prayer.

To pick up, to improve by degrees; as, he is picking up in health or business. [Colloq. U.S.]

Pick

Pick\, n. [F. pic a pickax, a pick. See Pick, and cf. Pike.]

1. A sharp-pointed tool for picking; -- often used in composition; as, a toothpick; a picklock.

2. (Mining & Mech.) A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at both ends, wielded by means of a wooden handle inserted in the middle, -- used by quarrymen, roadmakers, etc.; also, a pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.

3. A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler. [Obs.] "Take down my buckler . . . and grind the pick on 't." --Beau. & Fl.

4. Choice; right of selection; as, to have one's pick.

France and Russia have the pick of our stables. --Ld. Lytton.

5. That which would be picked or chosen first; the best; as, the pick of the flock.

6. (Print.) A particle of ink or paper imbedded in the hollow of a letter, filling up its face, and occasioning a spot on a printed sheet. --MacKellar.

7. (Painting) That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.

8. (Weawing) The blow which drives the shuttle, -- the rate of speed of a loom being reckoned as so many picks per minute; hence, in describing the fineness of a fabric, a weft thread; as, so many picks to an inch.

Pick dressing (Arch.), in cut stonework, a facing made by a pointed tool, leaving the surface in little pits or depressions.

Pick hammer, a pick with one end sharp and the other blunt, used by miners.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : pick
Spanish: elegir, escoger,
German: auswählen,
Japanese: 選ぶ
More Translations »

pick  (v.)
O.E. *pician "to prick," merged with O.N. pikka "to prick, peck," common Gmc. (cf. M.Du. picken, Ger. picken "to pick, peck"), from PIE *pik-/*pek-, an imitative base. The meaning "to choose, select, pick out" emerged c.1390, from earlier meaning "to pluck with the fingers" (c.1325). To pick a quarrel, etc. is from c.1449; to pick at "find fault with" is from c.1670. Pick on "single out for adverse attention" is from c.1370; to pick (someone) up "make someone's acquaintance aggressively for sexual purposes" is first recorded 1698. Pick off "shoot one by one" is recorded from 1810; baseball sense of "to put out a runner on base" is from 1939. Pickpocket is from 1591 (earlier pick-purse, c.1386). Pick-me-up "stimulating alcoholic drink" is attested from 1867. Picky first recorded 1867.

pick  (n.)
c.1300, pyk "pikestaff," variant of pike (2). Pic "pickaxe" is attested from 1340. Sense of "plectrum for a guitar, lute, etc." is from 1895; as a type of basketball block it is attested from 1951. Meaning "choicest part or example" is first recorded 1760, from pick (v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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pick

In addition to the idioms beginning with pick, also see bone to pick; slim pickings.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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