Downpick
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A downward stroke with a plectrum on a stringed instrument; downstroke.
"Outstanding selections include a knuckle-busting medley ("Chilly Winds-Old Joe Clark-Salt River- Johnny Bring the Jug Around the Hill") played in the bright, aggressive downpick clawhammer style of Wade Ward."
- 1 To play a stringed instrument by using all downpicks.
"“When I was playing with James Hetfield in Metallica,” Dave says, “we pretty much decided that rhythm guitar should be downpicking when it comes to pedaling, until it's so fast that you can't downpick anymore...""
Example
More examples"Outstanding selections include a knuckle-busting medley ("Chilly Winds-Old Joe Clark-Salt River- Johnny Bring the Jug Around the Hill") played in the bright, aggressive downpick clawhammer style of Wade Ward."
Etymology
From down + pick.
More for "downpick"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.