Definition

1. Noun:

   • The act of choosing or selecting: The process of making a choice from among options.
   • A tool: A heavy hand tool with a curved, pointed head, used for breaking hard materials like rock or ice.
   • A plectrum: A small, thin device used to pluck the strings of a musical instrument like a guitar.
   • The best part of something: The choicest or most desirable people or things in a group.
   • The amount of a crop gathered: The yield or harvest of fruits, vegetables, etc.

2. Verb:

   • To choose or select: To carefully choose someone or something from a group.
   • To gather by hand: To remove or collect something, such as flowers or fruit, by pulling or plucking.
   • To remove small pieces: To pull or take small bits off or out of something, often with the fingers or a tool.
   • To provoke or instigate: To deliberately start a fight or an argument.
   • To eat in small amounts: To eat slowly, taking small bites without much appetite.
   • To play a stringed instrument by plucking: To sound the strings of an instrument with a finger or a plectrum.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • Take your pick from the menu. (Choose what you want from the menu.)
  • The miner used a pick to break the rock.
  • He used a guitar pick to play the solo.
  • This student is the pick of the graduating class. (This student is the best of the class.)
  • This year's apple pick was excellent. (This year's apple harvest was excellent.)

• Verb:

  • Please pick a card from the deck.
  • We went to the field to pick strawberries.
  • She helped pick the meat from the bones.
  • He's always trying to pick a fight.
  • The child just picked at her dinner.
  • He picked the strings gently.

Advanced Usage

• "Pick and choose": To select only the very best or most desirable things, often in a fussy way.

  • You can't just pick and choose which rules to follow.

• "Pick someone's brain": To ask someone questions in order to obtain information or advice from them.

  • Can I pick your brain about marketing strategies?

• "Pick up the pace": To start moving or working faster.

  • We need to pick up the pace if we want to finish on time.

Variants and Related Words

• Picker (n): A person or machine that gathers crops.

  • She worked as a fruit picker for the summer.

• Picky (adj): Fussy or hard to please, especially in choosing things.

  • He's a very picky eater.

• Pickaxe (n): A variant spelling of the tool "pick", especially one with a point at one end and a chisel edge at the other.

Synonyms

• Choose, select (for the act of choosing).
• Gather, harvest, pluck (for collecting).
• Plectrum (for the musical tool).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Pick at: To eat food slowly, without interest; to criticize repeatedly.

  • Stop picking at your food.
  • He's always picking at his little sister.

• Pick on: To bully, tease, or criticize someone unfairly and repeatedly.

  • The bigger kids used to pick on him.

• Pick out: To choose or select; to distinguish or identify from a group.

  • Can you pick out the red car in the parking lot?
  • She picked out a lovely dress for the party.

• Pick up: To lift or take up; to collect someone or something; to learn or acquire casually; to improve or increase.

  • Pick up that piece of paper.
  • I'll pick you up at 8 o'clock.
  • She picked up Spanish while traveling.
  • Business is finally picking up.

Related Idioms

• Pick someone's pocket: To steal from someone's pocket or bag without them noticing.

  • A thief picked his pocket on the crowded train.

• Pick a lock: To open a lock without a key, using a tool.

  • In the movie, the spy knew how to pick a lock.

• Pick your way: To walk carefully, choosing where to step.

  • We had to pick our way through the muddy path.

Noun

1. the act of choosing or selecting
   • your choice of colors was unfortunate
   • you can take your pick
2. a basketball maneuver; obstructing an opponent with one's body
   • he was called for setting an illegal pick
3. 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
4. a thin sharp implement used for removing unwanted material
   • he used a pick to clean the dirt out of the cracks
5. a small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument
6. the yarn woven across the warp yarn in weaving
7. the best people or things in a group
   • the cream of England's young men were killed in the Great War
8. 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
9. the person or thing chosen or selected
   • he was my pick for mayor

Verb

1. eat intermittently; take small bites of
   • He pieced at the sandwich all morning
   • She never eats a full meal--she just nibbles
2. hit lightly with a picking motion
3. attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example
   • Pick open the ice
4. pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion
   • he plucked the strings of his mandolin
5. pay for something
   • pick up the tab
   • pick up the burden of high-interest mortgages
   • foot the bill
6. pilfer or rob
   • pick pockets
7. remove unwanted substances from, such as feathers or pits
   • Clean the turkey
8. remove in small bits
   • pick meat from a bone
9. provoke
   • pick a fight or a quarrel
10. harass with constant criticism
    • Don't always pick on your little brother
11. look for and gather
    • pick mushrooms
    • pick flowers
12. select carefully from a group
    • She finally picked her successor
    • He picked his way carefully