pick up

pick up
1) PHRASAL VERB When you pick something up, you lift it up.

[V n P] He picked his cap up from the floor and stuck it back on his head...

[V P n (not pron)] Ridley picked up a pencil and fiddled with it.

2) PHRASAL VERB When you pick yourself up after you have fallen or been knocked down, you stand up rather slowly.

[V pron-refl P] Anthony picked himself up and set off along the track.

3) PHRASAL VERB 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.

[V P n (not pron)] We drove to the airport the next morning to pick up Susan...

[V P n (not pron)] She was going over to her parents' house to pick up some clean clothes for Owen...

[V n P] I picked her up at Covent Garden to take her to lunch with my mother.

4) PHRASAL VERB If someone is picked up by the police, they are arrested and taken to a police station.

[be V-ed P] Rawlings had been picked up by police at his office...

[V n P] The police picked him up within the hour. [Also V P n (not pron)]

5) PHRASAL VERB If you pick up something such as a skill or an idea, you acquire it without effort over a period of time. [INFORMAL]

[V P n (not pron)] Where did you pick up your English?...

[V P n (not pron)] Young people are picking up ideas about good drugs and bad drugs. [Also V n P]

6) PHRASAL VERB If you pick up someone you do not know, you talk to them and try to start a sexual relationship with them. [INFORMAL]

[V n P] He had picked her up at a nightclub on Kallari Street, where she worked as a singer. [Also V P n (not pron)]

7) PHRASAL VERB If you pick up an illness, you get it from somewhere or something.

[V P n (not pron)] They've picked up a really nasty infection from something they've eaten. [Also V n P]

Syn:
8) PHRASAL VERB If a piece of equipment, for example a radio or a microphone, picks up a signal or sound, it receives it or detects it.

[V P n (not pron)] We can pick up Italian television...

[V P n (not pron)] The crew of Philante picked up a distress signal from the yacht Sans Peur III.

Syn:
9) PHRASAL VERB If you pick up something, such as a feature or a pattern, you discover or identify it.

[V P n (not pron)] Consumers in Europe are slow to pick up trends in the use of information technology.

10) PHRASAL VERB 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.

[V P n (not pron)] Can I just pick up that gentleman's point?...

[V P P n] I'll pick up on what I said a couple of minutes ago. [Also V n P]

11) PHRASAL VERB If trade or the economy of a country picks up, it improves.

[V P] Chinese officials hope that trade will pick up when the two countries switch to hard currency...

[V P] Industrial production is beginning to pick up.

Syn:
12) PHRASAL VERB If someone picks up, or their health picks up, they get better.

[V P] A good dose of tonic will help you to pick up.

13) PHRASAL VERB 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]

[V n P P n] If I may pick you up on that point...

[V n P P n] Don't pick me up on words.

14) → See also pick-up
15) 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?...

She died, and somehow I never picked up the pieces and started again.

16) PHRASE: V inflects When a vehicle picks up speed, it begins to move more quickly.

Brian started the engine and pulled away slowly, but picked up speed once he entered Oakwood Drive.

Syn:

English dictionary. 2008.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?
Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pick — steht für: Pick (Werkzeug), ein beim Lockpicking verwendetes Werkzeug Pick (Betriebssystem), ein Betriebssystem Pick (Wurstfabrik), gegründet 1869 von Márk Pick Pick (Logistik), eine logistische Tätigkeit bzw. Zähleinheit Pick Motor Company,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • pick-up — [ pikɶp ] n. m. inv. • 1928; mot angl. (1867), de to pick up « ramasser, recueillir » ♦ Anglic. 1 ♦ Techn. Dispositif servant à recueillir et transformer en courant variable des vibrations sonores enregistrées sur disques. ⇒ lecteur. Cour. Bras,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • pick — Ⅰ. pick [1] ► VERB 1) (often pick up) take hold of and move. 2) remove (a flower or fruit) from where it is growing. 3) choose from a number of alternatives. 4) remove unwanted matter from (one s nose or teeth) with a finger or a pointed… …   English terms dictionary

  • Pick — (p[i^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Picked} (p[i^]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. {Picking}.] [OE. picken, pikken, to prick, peck; akin to Icel. pikka, Sw. picka, Dan. pikke, D. pikken, G. picken, F. piquer, W. pigo. Cf. {Peck}, v., {Pike}, {Pitch} to throw.] 1 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pick — pick1 [pik] vt. [ME pykken, var. of picchen, to PITCH2] Weaving to throw (a shuttle) n. 1. one passage or throw of the shuttle of a loom 2. one of the weft threads, or filling yarns pick2 [pik] n. [ …   English World dictionary

  • pick — [pɪk] verb pick up phrasal verb 1. [intransitive] if business or trade picks up, it improves 2. [transitive] pick something → up informal to buy something, especially for a low price: • Homes here can be picked up for as little as £30,000 …   Financial and business terms

  • pick up — {v.} 1. To take up; lift. * /During the morning Mrs. Carter picked up sticks in the yard./ 2. {informal} To pay for someone else. * /After lunch, in the restaurant, Uncle Bob picked up the check./ 3. To take on or away; receive; get. * /At the… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • pick up — {v.} 1. To take up; lift. * /During the morning Mrs. Carter picked up sticks in the yard./ 2. {informal} To pay for someone else. * /After lunch, in the restaurant, Uncle Bob picked up the check./ 3. To take on or away; receive; get. * /At the… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Pick — Pick, n. [F. pic a pickax, a pick. See {Pick}, and cf. {Pike}.] 1. A sharp pointed tool for picking; often used in composition; as, a toothpick; a picklock. [1913 Webster] 2. (Mining & Mech.) A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Pick-up — auch: Pick|up 〈[ ʌ̣p] m. 6〉 1. Tonabnehmer 2. 〈Kfz〉 Personenkraftwagen, bei dem sich anstelle der Rücksitze eine offene Ladefläche befindet [<engl. pick up „aufnehmen“] * * * Pick up [pɪk |ap , engl.: pɪkʌp ], der; s, s [engl. pick up, zu: to… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • pick-up — ♦♦♦ pick ups also pickup 1) N COUNT A pick up or a pick up truck is a small truck with low sides that can be easily loaded and unloaded. 2) N SING: usu N in n A pick up in trade or in a country s economy is an improvement in it. ...a pick up in… …   English dictionary

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