Definition of PICK

pick

Plural: picks

Noun

  • the person or thing chosen or selected
    • "he was my pick for mayor"
  • 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"
  • the best people or things in a group
  • the yarn woven across the warp yarn in weaving
  • a small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument
  • a thin sharp implement used for removing unwanted material
    • "he used a pick to clean the dirt out of the cracks"
  • 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"
  • a basketball maneuver; obstructing an opponent with one's body
    • "he was called for setting an illegal pick"
  • the act of choosing or selecting
    • "you can take your pick"
  • A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
  • An anchor.
  • A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.
  • A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock.
  • A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.
  • A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.
  • A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.
  • A choice; ability to choose.
  • That which would be picked or chosen first; the best.
  • Pasture; feed, for animals.
  • 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.
  • A pickoff.
  • 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.
  • That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
  • 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.

Verb

Verb Forms: picked, picking, picks

  • To select from a group; to choose.
  • select carefully from a group
    • "She finally picked her successor"
    • "He picked his way carefully"
  • look for and gather
    • "pick mushrooms"
    • "pick flowers"
  • harass with constant criticism
    • "Don't always pick on your little brother"
  • provoke
    • "pick a fight or a quarrel"
  • remove in small bits
    • "pick meat from a bone"
  • remove unwanted substances from, such as feathers or pits
  • pilfer or rob
    • "pick pockets"
  • pay for something
    • "pick up the tab"
    • "pick up the burden of high-interest mortgages"
  • pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion
  • attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example
    • "Pick open the ice"
  • hit lightly with a picking motion
  • eat intermittently; take small bites of
  • To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails.
  • 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.
  • To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck.
  • To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together.
  • To remove something from somewhere with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth.
  • To decide upon, from a set of options; to select.
  • To seek (a fight or quarrel) where the opportunity arises.
  • 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.
  • To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument.
  • To open (a lock) with a wire, lock pick, etc.
  • To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.
  • To do anything fastidiously or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.
  • To steal; to pilfer.
  • To throw; to pitch.
  • 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.
  • To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points.
  • To screen.
  • To intercept a pass from the offense as a defensive player.

Examples

  • Don't pick at that scab.
  • Good Scrabble players meticulously PICK their tiles, eyeing potential bingos.
  • He didn't pick the googly, and was bowled.
  • He picked a tune on his banjo.
  • He picked his nose.
  • I gingerly picked my way between the thorny shrubs.
  • I'll pick the one with the nicest name.
  • It's time to pick the tomatoes.
  • She picked flowers in the meadow.
  • so many picks to an inch
  • The pass was almost picked, but the tight end was able to hold on.
  • to pick feathers from a fowl
  • to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.
  • to pick rags
  • to pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English piken, picken, pikken, from Old English *piccian, *pīcian (attested in pīcung (“a pricking”)), and pīcan, pȳcan (“to pick, prick, pluck”), both from Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew-, *bu- (“to make a dull, hollow sound”). Doublet of pitch and peck.
Cognate with Dutch pikken (“to pick”), German picken (“to pick, peck”), Old Norse pikka, pjakka (whence Icelandic pikka (“to pick, prick”), Swedish picka (“to pick, peck”)).

Scrabble Score: 12

pick: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
pick: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pick: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

pick: valid Words With Friends Word