pick : Idioms & Phrases
Index
- A bone to pick
- guitar pick
- hand-pick
- Ice pick
- Mill pick
- niemann-pick disease
- pick apart
- pick at
- Pick dressing
- Pick hammer
- pick off
- pick out
- pick over
- pick up
- pick up the gauntlet
- pick's disease
- pick-fault
- pick-me-up
- pick-off
- Poll pick
- To pick a bone with
To pick a crow ,To pluck a crow - To pick a quarrel
- To pick a thank
- To pick at
- To pick off
- To pick out
- To pick to pieces
- To pick up
A bone to pick
- something to investigate, or to busy one's self about; a dispute to be settled (with some one).
Webster 1913
guitar pick
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noun a plectrum used to pluck a guitar
WordNet
hand-pick
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verb pick personally and very carefully
- the director hand-picked his new team
WordNet
Ice pick
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noun pick consisting of a steel rod with a sharp point; used for breaking up blocks of ice
icepick.
WordNet
- a sharp instrument for breaking ice into small pieces.
Webster 1913
Mill pick
- a pick for dressing millstones.
Webster 1913
niemann-pick disease
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noun a disorder of lipid metabolism that is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait
WordNet
pick apart
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verb find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws
criticise; knock; criticize.
- The paper criticized the new movie
- Don't knock the food--it's free
WordNet
pick at
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verb pluck or pull at with the fingers
pull at; pluck at.
- She picked nervously at the buttons of her blouse
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verb eat like a bird
peck; peck at.
- The anorexic girl just picks at her food
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verb express a negative opinion of
disparage; belittle.
- She disparaged her student's efforts
WordNet
Pick dressing
(Arch.) , in cut stonework, a facing made by a pointed tool, leaving the surface in little pits or depressions.
Webster 1913
Pick hammer
- a pick with one end sharp and the other blunt, used by miners.
Webster 1913
pick off
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verb shoot one by one
-
verb pull or pull out sharply
tweak; pluck; pull off.
- pluck the flowers off the bush
WordNet
pick out
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verb pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives
choose; select; take.
- Take any one of these cards
- Choose a good husband for your daughter
- She selected a pair of shoes from among the dozen the salesgirl had shown her
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verb detect with the senses
recognize; spot; make out; tell apart; recognise; distinguish; discern.
- The fleeing convicts were picked out of the darkness by the watchful prison guards
- I can't make out the faces in this photograph
WordNet
pick over
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verb separate or remove
sieve out.
- The customer picked over the selection
WordNet
pick up
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verb take and lift upward
gather up; lift up.
-
verb take up by hand
- He picked up the book and started to read
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verb give a passenger or a hitchhiker a lift
- We picked up a hitchhiker on the highway
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verb gather or collect
call for; collect; gather up.
- You can get the results on Monday
- She picked up the children at the day care center
- They pick up our trash twice a week
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verb get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally
get a line; discover; see; hear; learn; find out; get wind; get word.
- I learned that she has two grown-up children
- I see that you have been promoted
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verb get in addition, as an increase
- The candidate picked up thousands of votes after his visit to the nursing home
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verb take into custody
nab; cop; apprehend; nail; arrest; collar.
- the police nabbed the suspected criminals
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verb buy casually or spontaneously
- I picked up some food for a snack
-
verb register (perceptual input)
receive.
- pick up a signal
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verb lift out or reflect from a background
- The scarf picks up the color of the skirt
- His eyes picked up his smile
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verb meet someone for sexual purposes
- he always tries to pick up girls in bars
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verb fill with high spirits; fill with optimism
intoxicate; uplift; elate; lift up.
- Music can uplift your spirits
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verb improve significantly; go from bad to good
turn around.
- Her performance in school picked up
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verb perceive with the senses quickly, suddenly, or momentarily
catch.
- I caught the aroma of coffee
- He caught the allusion in her glance
- ears open to catch every sound
- The dog picked up the scent
- Catch a glimpse
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verb eat by pecking at, like a bird
peck.
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verb gain or regain energy
perk; perk up; gain vigor; percolate.
- I picked up after a nap
WordNet
pick up the gauntlet
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verb be dared to do something and attempt it
take a dare.
WordNet
pick's disease
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noun a progressive form of presenile dementia found most often in middle-aged and elderly women and characterized by degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes with loss of intellectual ability and transitory aphasia
WordNet
pick-fault
Pick"-fault` noun
Definitions
One who seeks out faults.
Webster 1913
pick-me-up
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noun anything with restorative powers
pickup.
- she needed the pickup that coffee always gave her
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noun a tonic or restorative (especially a drink of liquor)
bracer.
WordNet
pick-off
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noun a baseball play in which a base runner is caught off base and tagged out
WordNet
Poll pick
(Mining) , a pole having a heavy spike on the end, forming a kind of crowbar.
Webster 1913
To pick a bone with
- to quarrel with, as dogs quarrel over a bone; to settle a disagreement. Colloq.
Webster 1913
To pick a crow , To pluck a crow
- to state and adjust a difference or grievance (with any one).
Webster 1913
To pick a quarrel
- to give occasion of quarrel intentionally.
Webster 1913
To pick a thank
- to curry favor. Obs. Robynson (More's Utopia).
Webster 1913
To pick at
- to tease or vex by pertinacious annoyance.
Webster 1913
To pick off
- .
(a) To pluck; to remove by picking .(b) To shoot or bring down, one by one;as, sharpshooters .pick off the enemy
Webster 1913
To pick out
- .
(a) To mark out; to variegate;as, .to pick out any dark stuff with lines or spots of bright colors(b) To select from a number or quantity.
Webster 1913
To pick to pieces
- to pull apart piece by piece; hence Colloq., to analyze; esp., to criticize in detail.
Webster 1913
To pick up
- .
(a) To take up, as with the fingers .(b) To get by repeated efforts; to gather here and there;as, .to pick up a livelihood;to pick up news(c) to acquire (an infectious disease); as, topick up a cold on the airplane. (d) To meet (a person) and induce to accompany one; as, to pick up a date at the mall. [See several other defs in MW10] - to improve by degrees; as, he is picking up in health or business. Colloq. U.S.
or, to increase gradually, as the car picked up speed rolling downhill