What does "pick" mean?
A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
Pick
/pɪk/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
- Grammar: pick is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: plectrum, a single, abuse, accelerate.
- Useful contrasts: defend, discard, insert.
- Usage evidence: I have a bone to pick with you.
How to use "pick"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "pick" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "pick" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "pick" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "pick" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "pick" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "plectrum" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "pick", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
- 2 the act of choosing or selecting wordnet
- 3 An anchor. slang
"It's better to amble around, drop the "pick" for a lunchtime swim or beachcomb, then find a nice anchorage for the night."
- 4 a basketball maneuver; obstructing an opponent with one's body wordnet
- 5 A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.
Show 22 more definitions
- 6 a heavy iron tool with a wooden handle and a curved head that is pointed on both ends wordnet
- 7 A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock.
- 8 a thin sharp implement used for removing unwanted material wordnet
- 9 A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.
- 10 a small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument wordnet
- 11 A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.
- 12 the yarn woven across the warp yarn in weaving wordnet
- 13 A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler. obsolete
"Take down my buckler […] and grind the pick on 't."
- 14 the person or thing chosen or selected wordnet
- 15 A choice; ability to choose.
"France and Russia have the pick of our stables."
- 16 the best people or things in a group wordnet
- 17 That which would be picked or chosen first; the best.
- 18 the quantity of a crop that is harvested wordnet
- 19 Pasture; feed, for animals. Australia
"‘She's all African grass and Brahmans. There's not a blade of native pick left, except on the ridges.’"
- 20 A screen.
- 21 An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.
- 22 An interception.
- 23 A good defensive play by an infielder.
- 24 A pickoff.
- 25 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. dated
"If it be in the smallest degree gritty, it clogs the form, and consequently produces a thick and imperfect impression; no pains should, therefore, be spared to render it perfectly smooth; it may then be made to work as clear and free from picks"
- 26 That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
- 27 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.
"so many picks to an inch"
Verb
- 1 To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails.
"Don't pick at that scab."
- 2 remove unwanted substances from, such as feathers or pits wordnet
- 3 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.
"It's time to pick the tomatoes."
- 4 remove in small bits wordnet
- 5 To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck.
"She picked flowers in the meadow."
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 select carefully from a group wordnet
- 7 To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together.
"to pick rags"
- 8 harass with constant criticism wordnet
- 9 To remove something from somewhere with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth.
"to pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket"
- 10 eat intermittently; take small bites of wordnet
- 11 To decide upon, from a set of options; to select.
"I'll pick the one with the nicest name."
- 12 hit lightly with a picking motion wordnet
- 13 To seek (a fight or quarrel) where the opportunity arises. transitive
- 14 look for and gather wordnet
- 15 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.
"He didn't pick the googly, and was bowled."
- 16 attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example wordnet
- 17 To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument.
"He picked a tune on his banjo."
- 18 pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion wordnet
- 19 To open (a lock) with a wire, lock pick, etc.
"The lock was of a kind that Watt could not pick. Watt could pick simple locks, but he could not pick obscure locks."
- 20 provoke wordnet
- 21 To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.
"Why stand'st thou picking? Is thy palate sore?"
- 22 pay for something wordnet
- 23 To do anything fastidiously or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.
"I gingerly picked my way between the thorny shrubs."
- 24 pilfer or rob wordnet
- 25 To steal; to pilfer.
"to keep my hands from picking and stealing"
- 26 To throw; to pitch. obsolete
"as high as I could pick my lance"
- 27 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. dated, transitive
- 28 To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points. ambitransitive
"to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc."
- 29 To screen.
- 30 To intercept a pass from the offense as a defensive player. informal
"The pass was almost picked, but the tight end was able to hold on."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"I have a bone to pick with you."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "pick"?
Common synonyms include: plectrum, a single, abuse, accelerate, accost, accumulate.
How do you use "pick" in a sentence?
I have a bone to pick with you.
How do you pronounce "pick"?
Pronounced /pɪk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”)).
Etymology 2
* As an English, Dutch, and German surname, related to pickaxe. * As a German surname, from Low German pick (“pitch”), itself ultimately from Latin pix. * As an English surname, from pike (“kind of fish”).