- pick
- [[t]pɪ̱k[/t]]
♦♦picks, picking, picked1) VERB If you pick a particular person or thing, you choose that one.
[V n] Mr Nowell had picked ten people to interview for six sales jobs in London...
[V n] I had deliberately picked a city with a tropical climate.
Syn: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...
We had the pick of suits from the shop.
Syn:3) VERB When you pick flowers, fruit, or leaves, you break them off the plant or tree and collect them.[V n] She used to pick flowers in the Cromwell Road...
[V n] He helps his mother pick fruit.
4) VERB If you pick something from a place, you remove it from there with your fingers or your hand.[V n prep] He picked the napkin from his lap and placed it alongside his plate...
[V n prep] He picked the telephone off the wall bracket.
5) VERB If you pick your nose or teeth, you remove substances from inside your nose or between your teeth.[V n] Edgar, don't pick your nose, dear...
[V n] He had just had a meal and was picking his teeth after it.
6) VERB If you pick a fight or quarrel with someone, you deliberately cause one.[V n with n] He picked a fight with a waiter and landed in jail...
7) VERB If someone such as a thief picks a lock, they open it without a key, for example by using a piece of wire.[V n] 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 , ice pick10) PHRASE: Vs inflect, usu PHR n If you pick and choose, you carefully choose only things that you really want and reject the others.As a vocational teacher I could pretty much pick and choose my work...
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...
Klein could have had his pick of the world's top models.
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...
Take your pick from ten luxury hotels...
See our selection of autumn favourites and take your pick.
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...
I moved away from the shack and picked my way among the rubble.
14) to pick someone's brains → see brainsPhrasal Verbs:- pick at- pick off- pick on- pick out- pick up
English dictionary. 2008.
