pick

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English [edit]

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A pick (pickaxe)

Etymology [edit]

From Middle English picken, pikken, from Old English *pīcian, pȳcan (“to pick, prick, pluck”), from Proto-Germanic *pikōną, *pūkijaną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *beu-, *bu- (“to make a dull, hollow sound”). Cognate with Dutch pikken (“to pick”), German picken (“to pick, peck”), Icelandic pikka (“to pick, prick”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

pick (plural picks)

  1. A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
  2. A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock.
  3. A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.
  4. A choice; ability to choose.
    • Lord Lytton
      France and Russia have the pick of our stables.
  5. That which would be picked or chosen first; the best.
  6. (basketball) A screen.
  7. (lacrosse) An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.
  8. (American football) An interception.
  9. (baseball) A good defensive play by an infielder.
  10. (baseball) Short for pick-off.
  11. (music) A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.
  12. A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at both ends, wielded by means of a wooden handle inserted in the middle, and used by quarrymen, roadmakers, etc.
  13. A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.
  14. (obsolete) A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.
    • Beaumont and Flanders
      Take down my buckler […] and grind the pick on 't.
  15. (printing, dated) 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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of MacKellar to this entry?)
  16. (art, painting) That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
  17. (weaving) 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

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

pickaxe
tool to open a lock
comb with long widely spaced teeth
choice
basketball: screen
lacrosse: offensive tactic
football: interception
baseball: good defensive play by an infielder
baseball: pick-off
music: plectrum

Verb [edit]

pick (third-person singular simple present picks, present participle picking, simple past and past participle picked)

  1. To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails.
    Don't pick at that scab.
    He picked his nose.
  2. 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.
  3. To decide between options.
    I'll pick the one with the nicest name.
  4. (cricket) 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.
  5. (music) To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument.
    He picked a tune on his banjo.

Derived terms [edit]

Terms derived from the verb pick

Translations [edit]

to grasp and pull with fingers
to remove a fruit or plant for consumption
to decide between options
cricket: to recognise the type of ball being bowled
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

See also [edit]

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