Dictionary Definition
pick
Noun
2 the quantity of a crop that is harvested; "he
sent the first picking of berries to the market"; "it was the
biggest peach pick in years" [syn: picking]
3 the best people or things in a group; "the
cream of England's young men were killed in the Great War" [syn:
cream]
5 a small thin device (of metal or plastic or
ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument [syn: plectrum, plectron]
6 a thin sharp implement used for picking; "he
used a pick to clean dirt out of the cracks"
7 a heavy iron tool with a wooden handle and a
curved head that is pointed on both ends; "they used picks and
sledges to break the rocks" [syn: pickax, pickaxe]
8 a basketball maneuver; obstructing an opponent
with one's body; "he was called for setting an illegal pick"
9 the act of choosing or selecting; "your choice
of colors was unfortunate"; "you can take your pick" [syn: choice, selection, option]
Verb
1 select carefully from a group; "She finally
picked her successor"; "He picked his way carefully"
3 harass with constant criticism; "Don't always
pick on your little brother" [syn: blame, find
fault]
4 provoke; "pick a fight or a quarrel"
5 remove in small bits; "pick meat from a
bone"
6 remove unwanted substances from, such as
feathers or pits; "Clean the turkey" [syn: clean]
7 pilfer or rob; "pick pockets"
8 pay for something; "pick up the tab"; "pick up
the burden of high-interest mortgages"; "foot the bill" [syn:
foot]
9 pull lightly but sharply with a plucking
motion; "he plucked the strings of his mandolin" [syn: pluck, plunk]
10 attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or
rocky ground, for example; "Pick open the ice" [syn: break up]
12 eat intermittently; take small bites of; "He
pieced at the sandwich all morning"; "She never eats a full
meal--she just nibbles" [syn: nibble, piece]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
(v.) pician and Old Norse pikka "to prick, to peck", from Proto-Indo-European *pik-/*pek- (n.) variant of pikePronunciation
-
- Rhymes: -ɪk
Noun
- A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
- A comb with long teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.
- A choice.
- A screen
- An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.
- An interception.
- A good defensive play by an infielder
- Short for pick-off
- A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.
Derived terms
Translations
comb with long teeth
choice
- Finnish: valinta
basketball: screen
lacrosse: offensive tactic
football: interception
baseball: good defensive play by an infielder
baseball: pick-off
music: plectrum
- Finnish: plektra
Verb
- To grasp and pull with
the fingers or fingernails.
- Don't pick at that scab.
- To remove a fruit or plant for consumption.
- It's time to pick the tomatoes.
- To decide between
options.
- I'll pick the one with the nicest name.
- to recognise the
type of ball being bowled by a bowler by studying the position of the hand and arm as the ball is released
- He didn't pick the googly, and was bowled.
Derived terms
- a bone to pick
- picky
- pickpocket
- nitpick
- pick and choose
- pick 'em
- pick one's nose
- pick somebody's brain
- pick up
- pick up where one left
- ripe for the picking
Translations
to grasp and pull with fingers
- Finnish: tonkia
- Italian : prendere
- Norwegian: pilke
to remove a fruit or plant for consumption
- Finnish: poimia
- Italian : raccogliere
- Norwegian: plukke
- Swedish: plocka
to decide between options
- Finnish: valita
- Italian : scegliere
- Norwegian: velge
- Swedish: välja
cricket: to recognise the type of ball being
bowled
- Finnish: lukea
See also
Homophones
Extensive Definition
The word Pick may refer to:
Tools and weapons
- Pickaxe, a tool used for manual labour
- Lock pick, a tool used for lock picking
- Lock picking, the art of unlocking a lock without its intended key
- Warded pick, a device for opening warded locks
- Toothpick, a piece of wood or other substance to remove food from the teeth after a meal
- Horseman's pick, a weapon used by cavalry units during the middle ages in Europe
Medical
- Niemann-Pick disease, an inherited condition
- Pick's Disease, a dementing illness
Mathematics and computers
- Pick's theorem in geometry
- Pick operating system, a computer operating system built around a multidimensional, variable data length database, often called "the Pick system" or simply "Pick"
- Pick matrix, a specific type of matrix (mathematics)
- Schwarz-Ahlfors-Pick theorem, a mathematics theorem
In music
- Plectrum, a device for picking or strumming a stringed instrument
- Guitar pick, a plectrum for a guitar
- Fingerpicking, a technique for playing the guitar using the fingertips and/or fingernails
- Sweep-picking, a guitar technique that involves playing one note per string
Places
People
- Albert Pick, German numismatist
- Georg Alexander Pick, Austrian mathematician
- Lewis A. Pick, United States Army Chief of Engineers
- Ludwig Pick, see Niemann-Pick disease
- Lupu Pick, German actor
- Thomas Pickering Pick, surgeon and author
- Sherwood Picking, United States Navy submarine commander
Miscellaneous
- Cherry picking, literally meaning harvesting cherries, used metaphorically to accuse someone of pointing at individual cases which seem to confirm his or her position, while ignoring a significant portion of related cases that may contradict it
- Nose-picking, the act of extracting mucus or foreign bodies from the nose with a finger
- Pick and roll, an offensive play in basketball
- U-Pick Live, a show aired on Nickelodeon between 2002 and 2005
- Pick A Box, a radio program
- Call pick-up, a system used in office telephony
- Pick-Up, a slang term that is commonly used in a gaming context
- 52 Pickup, a practical joke disguised as a card game
- 52 Pick-up, a thriller/action film starring Ann-Margret and Roy Scheider
- Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, named after Lewis A. Pick
- Anglers' or fishermen's slang for the Pickhandle barracuda
- Pickelhaube is a type of helmet
- Pick refers to an interception in American football
pick in German: Pick
pick in French: Pick
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abuse,
accelerate, accost, accumulate, acquire, adz, aggravate, alternativity, amass, annoy, apprehend, arrest, assemble, ax, badger, bait, be at, beak, become acquainted with,
bedevil, beset, best, bother, bread knife, bring in,
bring together, bristle,
browbeat, brown off,
brush, bug, bully, bullyrag, bunt, burn up, bushwhacker, bust, butcher knife, buy, call for, carp at, carving
knife, catch, champion, chaser, chisel, chivy, choice, choose, choose out, choosing, chosen, chuck, clean up, cleaver, clipper, clippers, co-optation,
co-option, collar,
collect, come by, come
down with, contract,
cream, criticize, crop, crop herbs, cull, cut, dab, dagger, decide between, decision, devil, dig, dig up, discern, discompose, discriminate, distemper, distinguish, disturb, dog, elect, election, elite, exasperate, excerpt, exclusive, exercise, extract, fash, fat, filling, fillip, find, first choice, flick, flip, flirt, flower, foment, free choice, free will,
fret at, fuss at, gain,
garner, gather, gather in, get, get better, get hold of, get
in, get together, glean,
go to get, gouge, grabble, graze, gripe, grub, grub up, hack, handpick, harass, harry, harvest, hassle, hatchet, hay, heckle, hector, heft, henpeck, hoe, hoist, hound, hunting knife, improve, incite, increase, initiate, intimidate, irk, irritate, jackknife, jest, kill, knife, lance, lancet, learn, letter-opener, lift up,
machete, make a
comeback, make a selection, make headway, make out, make progress,
mark, master, mattock, meet, miff, molest, mow, nab, nag, nag at, neaten, needle, nettle, nibble, nibble at, nick, niggle, nippers, nonesuch, nonpareil, nosh, nudzh, nut, obtain, opt for, optimum, option, paper cutter, paper
knife, paragon, paring
knife, pat, peck, peck at, peeve, penknife, perk up, persecute, pester, pick and choose, pick at,
pick off, pick on, pick out, pick up, pickax, picked, pinch, pique, plague, plectron, plectrum, plowshare, pluck, pluck the beard, plunk, pother, prefer, preference, preoption, pride, prime, prize, provoke, pull in, purchase, queen, quintessence, raise up,
rake up, rally, rap, razor, razor blade, reap, reap and carry, recognize, recoup, recover, ride, rile, roil, round up, ruffle, run in, saw knife,
sax, scalpel, scare up, scissors, scoop, scrape together, scrape up,
scraper, screen out,
scuffle hoe, scythe,
select, selected, selection, separate, settle on, settle
upon, share, shears, sheath knife, shoot, shoot down, sickle, sidecutters, sift, sift out, single out,
snack, snap, snips, sort out, spear, speed up, spokeshave, start, stir up, straighten out,
straighten up, strum,
superlative,
surgical knife, sweep the strings, sword, table knife, take, take in, take into custody,
take up, tap, taunt, tease, tell apart, the best, the
best ever, the pick, the tops, the very best, thrum, tickle, tidy up, tip, top, torment, touch, try the patience, twang, tweak the nose, vex, volition, warp, wedge, weft, whisk, will, winnow, woof, work up, worry, yap
at