pick
pick
/pɪk/
1 transitive (rather informal) to choose somebody/something from a group of people or things pick somebody/something Pick a number from one to twenty.
They are picking the final team this weekend.
It's time to pick a side (= decide who you support).
He picked his words carefully.
At the beach we picked a spot to sit down.
pick somebody/something to do something He has been picked to play in this week's game.
pick somebody/something for something Have you been picked for the team?
pick somebody/something as something It was picked as the best film in the competition.
Companies want to pick the best candidates for the job.
There are so many good ones it's hard to pick a favourite.
They picked Jane as the captain.
She picked the best cake for herself.
Have I picked a bad time to talk to you?
Collocations
adverb
at random
randomly
out
preposition
as
for
2 transitive pick something to take flowers, fruit, etc. from the plant or the tree where they are growing to pick grapes/strawberries/cotton
flowers freshly picked from the garden
The common was a great place to go blackberry picking.
They picked some flowers and arranged them into a beautiful bouquet.
freshly picked strawberries
Collocations
phrases
3 transitive to pull or remove something or small pieces of something from something else, especially with your fingers pick something + adv./prep. She picked bits of fluff from his sweater.
He picked the nuts off the top of the cake.
Names were picked at random out of a hat.
pick something to pick your nose (= put your finger inside your nose to remove dried mucus)
to pick your teeth (= use a small sharp piece of wood or plastic to remove pieces of food from your teeth)
pick something + adj. The dogs picked the bones clean (= ate all the meat from the bones).
4 (North American English) (also pluck British and North American English) intransitive, transitive pick (something) to play a musical instrument, especially a guitar, by pulling the strings with your fingers Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
pick
/pɪk/
1 singular (rather informal) an act of choosing something Take your pick (= choose).
The winner gets first pick of the prizes.
Which do you want? Take your pick.
Red or green? Take your pick.
She had her pick of the young single men at the party.
Collocations
verb + pick
phrases
get first pick
take first pick
2 countable (informal) a person or thing that is chosen She was his pick for best actress.
3 singular the pick of something (rather informal) the best thing or things in a group We're reviewing the pick of this month's new books.
I think we got the pick of the bunch (= the best in the group).
4 (also pickaxe, North American English also pickax) countable a large heavy tool that has a curved metal bar with sharp ends fixed at the centre to a wooden handle. It is used for breaking rocks or hard ground. picks and shovels
5 countable (informal) a plectrum (= a small piece of metal, plastic, etc. used for plucking the strings of a guitar or similar instrument) Word Origin
verb Middle English (earlier as pike, which continues in dialect use): of unknown origin. Compare with Dutch pikken ‘pick, peck’, and German picken ‘peck, puncture’, also with French piquer ‘to prick’.
noun senses 1 to 3 Middle English (earlier as pike, which continues in dialect use): of unknown origin. Compare with Dutch pikken ‘pick, peck’, and German picken ‘peck, puncture’, also with French piquer ‘to prick’. noun sense 4 Middle English: variant of pike ‘weapon’.