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pick

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pick¹

  • /pɪk/
  • [pʰɪk]

Sounds like pic · Rhymes with -ɪk

Where it comes from

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”)). Compare also German Low German puken (“to pick out, rip out, pull away, extract”).

noun picks

  1. A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
  2. slang An anchor. It's better to amble around, drop the "pick" for a lunchtime swim or beachcomb, then find a nice anchorage for the night.
  3. A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.
  4. A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock.
  5. A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.
  6. A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.
  7. obsolete A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler. Take down my buckler […] and grind the pick on 't.
  8. A choice; ability to choose. France and Russia have the pick of our stables.
  9. That which would be picked or chosen first; the best.
  10. Australia Pasture; feed, for animals. ‘She's all African grass and Brahmans. There's not a blade of native pick left, except on the ridges.’
  11. A screen.
  12. An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.
  13. An interception.
  14. A good defensive play by an infielder.
  15. A pickoff.
  16. 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. 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
  17. That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
  18. 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 picks · picking · picked · pick

  1. To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails. Don't pick at that scab.
  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 pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck. She picked flowers in the meadow.
  4. To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together. to pick rags
  5. 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
  6. To decide upon, from a set of options; to select. I'll pick the one with the nicest name.
  7. transitive To seek (a fight or quarrel) where the opportunity arises.
  8. 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.
  9. To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument. He picked a tune on his banjo.
  10. 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.
  11. To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble. Why stand'st thou picking? Is thy palate sore?
  12. 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.
  13. To steal; to pilfer. to keep my hands from picking and stealing
  14. obsolete To throw; to pitch. as high as I could pick my lance

    Similar: fling, hurl, bung, cast, chuck, chunk, cook, dash, dump, feck, jerk, heave

  15. dated, transitive 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.
  16. ambitransitive To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points. to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.
  17. To screen.
  18. informal To intercept a pass from the offense as a defensive player. The pass was almost picked, but the tight end was able to hold on.

Pick²

Where it comes from

* 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”).

proper noun Picks

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: pickax, pickaxe, woof, weft, nibble, pluck, plunk, filling, cream, cull, break up, piece, foot, peck, beak, find fault

Translations

Every language

noun general purpose hooked tool part of a set

Españolpuya

noun pickaxe

Españolpico, sacho, zapapico, piqueta
日本語つるはし tsuruhashi
中文鶴嘴鋤 /鹤嘴锄 háozuǐchú, hèzuǐchú
हिन्दीगैंती ga͠itī
Portuguêspicareta
Françaispioche
DeutschHacke, Pickel, Spitzhacke
Italianopiccone
Românătârnăcop
Русскийкирка́ kirká, кайло́ kajló
العربيةمِعْوَل miʕwal, فَأْس faʔs

noun tool to open a lock

Españolganzúa
中文万能钥匙 wànnéngyàoshí
Françaispasse-partout
DeutschDietrich
Italianogrimaldello
Русскийотмы́чка otmýčka

noun comb with long widely spaced teeth

Italianostuzzicadenti, pettine

noun choice

Portuguêsescolha
Françaischoix
Italianoscelta
Русскийвы́бор výbor

noun basketball: screen

Italianobarriera
Русскийзасло́н zaslón

verb to grasp and pull with fingers

Españolhurgar, esculcar, escarbar
Portuguêspegar
Françaisprendre, cueillir
Italianoprendere

verb to remove a fruit or plant for consumption

Españolrecoger
한국어따다 ttada
日本語摘む tsumu
中文摘 zhāi
Portuguêscolher
Françaiscueillir
Deutschpflücken
Italianoraccogliere
Русскийсобира́ть sobirátʹ, собра́ть sobrátʹ, рва́ть rvátʹ, срыва́ть sryvátʹ, сорва́ть sorvátʹ
עבריתקָטַף qatáf

verb to decide upon, from a set of options; to select

Españolescoger, escogitar
한국어정하다 jeonghada
हिन्दीचुनना cunnā
Portuguêsescolher
Françaischoisir
Italianoscegliere
Русскийвыбира́ть vybirátʹ, выбра́ть vybrátʹ

verb to pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument

한국어뜯다 tteutda
Françaispincer
Deutschzupfen
Italianopizzicare

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"pick." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pick. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

APA

pick. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pick

Chicago

"pick." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 5, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pick.

BibTeX
@misc{pick_2026,
  title = {pick},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pick},
  urldate = {2026-11-05}
}