pick
♦♦ pick /p'ɪk/ (picks picking picked)
1 [VERB] V n, V n
If you pick a particular person or thing, you choose that one.
Mr Nowell had picked ten people to interview for six sales jobs in London...
I had deliberately picked a city with a tropical climate.
2 [N-SING] the N, usu the N of n
You can refer to the best things or people in a particular group as the pick of that group.
The boys here are the pick of the under-15 cricketers in the country...
3 [VERB] V n
When you pick flowers, fruit, or leaves, you break them off the plant or tree and collect them.
She used to pick flowers in the Cromwell Road...
4 [VERB] V n prep
If you pick something from a place, you remove it from there with your fingers or your hand.
He picked the napkin from his lap and placed it alongside his plate...
5 [VERB] V n
If you pick your nose or teeth, you remove substances from inside your nose or between your teeth.
Edgar, don't pick your nose, dear...
6 [VERB] V n with n
If you pick a fight or quarrel with someone, you deliberately cause one.
He picked a fight with a waiter and landed in jail...
7 [VERB] V n
If someone such as a thief picks a lock, they open it without a key, for example by using a piece of wire.
He picked each lock deftly, and rifled the papers within each drawer.
8 [N-COUNT]
A pick is the same as a pickaxe.
9
see also hand-pick, ice pick
10 [PHRASE] Vs inflect, usu PHR n
If you pick and choose, you carefully choose only things that you really want and reject the others.
We, the patients, cannot pick and choose our doctors.
11 [PHRASE] V inflects, PHR of n
If you have your pick of a group of things, you are able to choose any of them that you want.
Here is an actress who could have her pick of any part...
12 [PHRASE] V inflects, oft PHR of/from n
If you are told to take your pick, you can choose any one that you like from a group of things.
Accountants can take their pick of company cars...
13 [PHRASE] V inflects, PHR prep/adv
If you pick your way across an area, you walk across it very carefully in order to avoid obstacles or dangerous things.
The girls were afraid of snakes and picked their way along with extreme caution...
14
to pick someone's brains: see brain
to pick holes in something: see hole
to pick someone's pocket: see pocketice pick (ice picks)
also icepick
[N-COUNT]
An ice pick is a small pointed tool that you use for breaking ice.pick 'n' mix
also pick and mix
[ADJ] ADJ n
Pick 'n' mix is used to describe a way of getting a collection of things together by choosing a number of different ones. (BRIT)
It is, as some senior officials conceded, a pick 'n' mix approach to policy.
...a pick-and-mix selection of fabrics and wallpapers.pick at
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n
If you pick at the food that you are eating, you eat only very small amounts of it.
Sarah picked at a plate of cheese for supper, but she wasn't really hungry.pick off
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If someone picks off people or aircraft, they shoot them down one by one, aiming carefully at them from a distance.
Both groups on either side are just picking off innocent bystanders...
Any decent shot with telescopic sights could pick us off at random.pick on
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n
If someone picks on you, they repeatedly criticize you unfairly or treat you unkindly. (INFORMAL)
Bullies pick on younger children...
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n
If someone picks on a particular person or thing, they choose them, for example for special attention or treatment. (mainly BRIT)
When you have made up your mind, pick on a day when you will not be under much stress...
= pickpick out
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you pick out someone or something, you recognize them when it is difficult to see them, for example because they are among a large group.
The detective-constable picked out the words with difficulty...
Steven describes himself as `a regular guy-you couldn't pick me out of a crowd'.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you pick out someone or something, you choose them from a group of people or things.
I have been picked out to represent the whole team...
There are so many great newscasters it's difficult to pick one out.
= select
3 [PHRASAL VERB] usu passive, be V-ed P
If part of something is picked out in a particular colour, it is painted in that colour so that it can be seen clearly beside the other parts.
The name is picked out in gold letters over the shop-front.
= highlightpick over
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you pick over a quantity of things, you examine them carefully, for example to reject the ones you do not want.
Pick over the fruit and pile on top of the cream.pick up
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, V P n (not pron)
When you pick something up, you lift it up.
He picked his cap up from the floor and stuck it back on his head...
Ridley picked up a pencil and fiddled with it.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V pron-refl P
When you pick yourself up after you have fallen or been knocked down, you stand up rather slowly.
Anthony picked himself up and set off along the track.
3 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
When you pick up someone or something that is waiting to be collected, you go to the place where they are and take them away, often in a car.
She went over to her parents' house to pick up some clean clothes...
I picked her up at Covent Garden to take her to lunch with my mother.
4 [PHRASAL VERB] be V-ed P, V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If someone is picked up by the police, they are arrested and taken to a police station.
Rawlings had been picked up by police at his office...
The police picked him up within the hour.
5 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you pick up something such as a skill or an idea, you acquire it without effort over a period of time. (INFORMAL)
Where did you pick up your English?...
6 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If you pick up someone you do not know, you talk to them and try to start a sexual relationship with them. (INFORMAL)
He had picked her up at a nightclub on Kallari Street, where she worked as a singer.
7 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
If you pick up an illness, you get it from somewhere or something.
They've picked up a really nasty infection from something they've eaten.
= catch
8 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If a piece of equipment, for example a radio or a microphone, picks up a signal or sound, it receives it or detects it.
We can pick up Italian television...
9 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you pick up something, such as a feature or a pattern, you discover or identify it.
Consumers in Europe are slow to pick up trends in the use of information technology.
10 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V P P n, also V n P
If someone picks up a point or topic that has already been mentioned, or if they pick up on it, they refer to it or develop it.
Can I just pick up that gentleman's point?...
I'll pick up on what I said a couple of minutes ago.
11 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If trade or the economy of a country picks up, it improves.
Industrial production is beginning to pick up.
12 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P P n
If you pick someone up on something that they have said or done, you mention it and tell them that you think it is wrong. (mainly BRIT)
...if I may pick you up on that point...
13
see also pick-up
14 [PHRASE] V inflects
When you pick up the pieces after a disaster, you do what you can to get the situation back to normal again.
Do we try and prevent problems or do we try and pick up the pieces afterwards?...
15 [PHRASE] V inflects
When a vehicle picks up speed, it begins to move more quickly.
Brian pulled away slowly, but picked up speed.
= accelerate
1 [VERB] V n, V n
If you pick a particular person or thing, you choose that one.
Mr Nowell had picked ten people to interview for six sales jobs in London...
I had deliberately picked a city with a tropical climate.
2 [N-SING] the N, usu the N of n
You can refer to the best things or people in a particular group as the pick of that group.
The boys here are the pick of the under-15 cricketers in the country...
3 [VERB] V n
When you pick flowers, fruit, or leaves, you break them off the plant or tree and collect them.
She used to pick flowers in the Cromwell Road...
4 [VERB] V n prep
If you pick something from a place, you remove it from there with your fingers or your hand.
He picked the napkin from his lap and placed it alongside his plate...
5 [VERB] V n
If you pick your nose or teeth, you remove substances from inside your nose or between your teeth.
Edgar, don't pick your nose, dear...
6 [VERB] V n with n
If you pick a fight or quarrel with someone, you deliberately cause one.
He picked a fight with a waiter and landed in jail...
7 [VERB] V n
If someone such as a thief picks a lock, they open it without a key, for example by using a piece of wire.
He picked each lock deftly, and rifled the papers within each drawer.
8 [N-COUNT]
A pick is the same as a pickaxe.
9
see also hand-pick, ice pick
10 [PHRASE] Vs inflect, usu PHR n
If you pick and choose, you carefully choose only things that you really want and reject the others.
We, the patients, cannot pick and choose our doctors.
11 [PHRASE] V inflects, PHR of n
If you have your pick of a group of things, you are able to choose any of them that you want.
Here is an actress who could have her pick of any part...
12 [PHRASE] V inflects, oft PHR of/from n
If you are told to take your pick, you can choose any one that you like from a group of things.
Accountants can take their pick of company cars...
13 [PHRASE] V inflects, PHR prep/adv
If you pick your way across an area, you walk across it very carefully in order to avoid obstacles or dangerous things.
The girls were afraid of snakes and picked their way along with extreme caution...
14
to pick someone's brains: see brain
to pick holes in something: see hole
to pick someone's pocket: see pocketice pick (ice picks)
also icepick
[N-COUNT]
An ice pick is a small pointed tool that you use for breaking ice.pick 'n' mix
also pick and mix
[ADJ] ADJ n
Pick 'n' mix is used to describe a way of getting a collection of things together by choosing a number of different ones. (BRIT)
It is, as some senior officials conceded, a pick 'n' mix approach to policy.
...a pick-and-mix selection of fabrics and wallpapers.pick at
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n
If you pick at the food that you are eating, you eat only very small amounts of it.
Sarah picked at a plate of cheese for supper, but she wasn't really hungry.pick off
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If someone picks off people or aircraft, they shoot them down one by one, aiming carefully at them from a distance.
Both groups on either side are just picking off innocent bystanders...
Any decent shot with telescopic sights could pick us off at random.pick on
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n
If someone picks on you, they repeatedly criticize you unfairly or treat you unkindly. (INFORMAL)
Bullies pick on younger children...
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n
If someone picks on a particular person or thing, they choose them, for example for special attention or treatment. (mainly BRIT)
When you have made up your mind, pick on a day when you will not be under much stress...
= pickpick out
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you pick out someone or something, you recognize them when it is difficult to see them, for example because they are among a large group.
The detective-constable picked out the words with difficulty...
Steven describes himself as `a regular guy-you couldn't pick me out of a crowd'.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you pick out someone or something, you choose them from a group of people or things.
I have been picked out to represent the whole team...
There are so many great newscasters it's difficult to pick one out.
= select
3 [PHRASAL VERB] usu passive, be V-ed P
If part of something is picked out in a particular colour, it is painted in that colour so that it can be seen clearly beside the other parts.
The name is picked out in gold letters over the shop-front.
= highlightpick over
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you pick over a quantity of things, you examine them carefully, for example to reject the ones you do not want.
Pick over the fruit and pile on top of the cream.pick up
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, V P n (not pron)
When you pick something up, you lift it up.
He picked his cap up from the floor and stuck it back on his head...
Ridley picked up a pencil and fiddled with it.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V pron-refl P
When you pick yourself up after you have fallen or been knocked down, you stand up rather slowly.
Anthony picked himself up and set off along the track.
3 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
When you pick up someone or something that is waiting to be collected, you go to the place where they are and take them away, often in a car.
She went over to her parents' house to pick up some clean clothes...
I picked her up at Covent Garden to take her to lunch with my mother.
4 [PHRASAL VERB] be V-ed P, V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If someone is picked up by the police, they are arrested and taken to a police station.
Rawlings had been picked up by police at his office...
The police picked him up within the hour.
5 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you pick up something such as a skill or an idea, you acquire it without effort over a period of time. (INFORMAL)
Where did you pick up your English?...
6 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If you pick up someone you do not know, you talk to them and try to start a sexual relationship with them. (INFORMAL)
He had picked her up at a nightclub on Kallari Street, where she worked as a singer.
7 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
If you pick up an illness, you get it from somewhere or something.
They've picked up a really nasty infection from something they've eaten.
= catch
8 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If a piece of equipment, for example a radio or a microphone, picks up a signal or sound, it receives it or detects it.
We can pick up Italian television...
9 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you pick up something, such as a feature or a pattern, you discover or identify it.
Consumers in Europe are slow to pick up trends in the use of information technology.
10 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V P P n, also V n P
If someone picks up a point or topic that has already been mentioned, or if they pick up on it, they refer to it or develop it.
Can I just pick up that gentleman's point?...
I'll pick up on what I said a couple of minutes ago.
11 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If trade or the economy of a country picks up, it improves.
Industrial production is beginning to pick up.
12 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P P n
If you pick someone up on something that they have said or done, you mention it and tell them that you think it is wrong. (mainly BRIT)
...if I may pick you up on that point...
13
see also pick-up
14 [PHRASE] V inflects
When you pick up the pieces after a disaster, you do what you can to get the situation back to normal again.
Do we try and prevent problems or do we try and pick up the pieces afterwards?...
15 [PHRASE] V inflects
When a vehicle picks up speed, it begins to move more quickly.
Brian pulled away slowly, but picked up speed.
= accelerate