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pick |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Pick \Pick\, v. i. 1. To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Pick \Pick\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Picked}; 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. To throw; to pitch. [Obs.] As high as I could pick my lance. --Shak. 2. 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. 3. To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points; as to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc 4. To open (a lock) as by a wire. 5. To pull apart or away especially with the fingers; to pluck; to gather, as fruit from a tree, flowers from the stalk, feathers from a fowl, etc 6. To remove something from with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth; as to pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket. Did you pick Master Slender's purse? --Shak. He picks clean teeth, and busy as he seems With an old tavern quill, is hungry yet --Cowper. 7. To choose to select; to separate as choice or desirable; to cull; as to pick one's company; to pick one's way -- often with out ``One man picked out of ten thousand.'' --Shak. 8. To take up esp., to gather from here and there to collect; to bring together; as to pick rags; -- often with up as to pick up a ball or stones; to pick up information. 9. To trim. [Obs.] --Chaucer. {To pick at}, to tease or vex by pertinacious annoyance. {To pick a bone with}. See under {Bone}. {To pick a thank}, to curry favor. [Obs.] --Robynson (More's Utopia). {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. {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. {To pick to pieces}, to pull apart piece by piece; hence [Colloq.], to analyze; esp., to criticize in detail. {To pick a quarrel}, to give occasion of quarrel intentionally. {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 From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. 2. (Mining & Mech.) A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at both ends wielded by means of a wooden handle inserted in the middle, -- used by quarrymen, roadmakers, etc.; also a pointed hammer used for dressing millstones. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: pick n 1: the person or thing chosen or selected; "he was my pick for mayor" [syn: {choice}, {selection}] 2: the quantity of a crop that is harvested; "he sent the first picking of berries to the market"; "it was the biggest peach pick in years" [syn: {picking}] 3: the best people or things in a group "the cream of England's young men were killed in the Great War" [syn: {cream}] 4: the thread woven across the warp yarn in weaving [syn: {woof}, {weft}, {filling}] 5: a small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument [syn: {plectrum}, {plectron}] 6: a thin sharp implement used for picking; "he used a pick to clean dirt out of the cracks" 7: a heavy wooden-handled iron tool with a curved head that is pointed on both ends "they used picks and sledges to break the rocks" [syn: {pickax}, {pickaxe}] 8: a basketball maneuver; obstructing an opponent with one's body; "he was called for setting an illegal pick" 9: the act of choosing or selecting; "your choice of colors was unfortunate"; "you can take your pick" [syn: {choice}, {selection}] v 1: select carefully from a group: "She finally picked her successor"; "He picked his way carefully"; "We had to pick through a lot of data" 2: look for and gather; "pick mushrooms"; "pick flowers" [syn: {pluck}, {cull}] 3: harass with constant criticism; "Don't always pick on your little brother" [syn: {blame}, {find fault}] 4: provoke: "pick a fight or a quarrel" 5: remove in small bits: "pick meat from a bone" 6: remove unwanted substances from such as feathers or pits, as of chickens or fruit; "Clean the turkey" [syn: {clean}] 7: pilfer or rob: "pick pockets" 8: pay for something "pick up the tab"; "pick up the burden of high interest mortgages" [syn: {foot}] 9: pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion, as of guitar strings; "he plucked the strings of his mandolin" [syn: {pluck}, {plunk}] 10: attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example; "Pick open the ice" [syn: {break up}] 11: hit lightly with a picking motion [syn: {peck}, {beak}] 12: eat intermittently; take small bites of "He pieced at the sandwich all morning"; "She never eats a full meal--she just picks at the food" [syn: {nibble}, {piece}]
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