Pick

Pronunciation

• IPA: US: /pɪk/,pʰɪkÊ°
• Rhymes: -ɪk
• Homophones: pic

Origin

From Middle English picken, pikken, from Old English *pīcian, pȳcan ("to pick, prick, pluck"), from Proto-Germanic *pikōną, *pūkijaną ("to pick, peck, prick, knock"), from Proto-Indo-European *beu-, *bu- ("to make a dull, hollow sound"). Cognate with Dutch pikken ("to pick"), German picken ("to pick, peck"), Icelandic pikka ("to pick, prick").

Full definition of pick

Noun

1. A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
2. A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock.
3. A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.
4. A choice; ability to choose.
• Lord LyttonFrance and Russia have the pick of our stables.
5. That which would be picked or chosen first; the best.
6. (basketball) A screen.
7. (lacrosse) An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.
8. (American football) An interception.
9. (baseball) A good defensive play by an infielder.
10. (baseball) A pickoff.
11. (music) A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.
12. A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at both ends, wielded by means of a wooden handle inserted in the middle, and used by quarrymen, roadmakers, etc.
13. A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.
14. (obsolete) A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.
• Beaumont and FletcherTake down my buckler ... and grind the pick on 't.
15. (printing, dated) A particle of ink or paper embedded in the hollow of a letter, filling up its face, and causing a spot on a printed sheet.
16. (art, painting) That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
17. (weaving) The blow that drives the shuttle, used in calculating the speed of a loom (in picks per minute); hence, in describing the fineness of a fabric, a weft thread.so many picks to an inch

Derived terms

• pickaxe
• take one's pick
• toothpick

Verb

1. To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails.Don't pick at that scab.He picked his nose.
2. To harvest a fruit or vegetable for consumption by removing it from the plant to which it is attached; to harvest an entire plant by removing it from the ground.It's time to pick the tomatoes.
3. To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck.She picked flowers in the meadow.to pick feathers from a fowl
4. To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together.to pick rags
5. To remove something from with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth.to pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket
• ShakespeareDid you pick Master Slender's purse?
• CowperHe picks clean teeth, and, busy as he seems
  With an old tavern quill, is hungry yet.
6. To decide upon, from a set of options; to select.I'll pick the one with the nicest name.
7. (cricket) 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.
8. (music) To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument.He picked a tune on his banjo.
9. To open (a lock) with a wire, lock pick, etc.
10. To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.
• DrydenWhy stand'st thou picking? Is thy palate sore?
11. To do anything nicely or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.
12. To steal; to pilfer.
• Book of Common Prayerto keep my hands from picking and stealing
13. (obsolete) To throw; to pitch.
• Shakespeareas high as I could pick my lance
14. (dated) 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.
15. To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points.to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.

Derived terms