pick at

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

pick at

verb picks at · picking at · picked at

idiomatic, transitive To touch, grab, handle, or pull tentatively or gingerly, using a utensil or one's fingers. Mr Vholes remained immovable, except that he secretly picked at one of the red pimples on his yellow face with his black glove.
Similar: fiddle with, toy with
idiomatic, transitive, of food Synonym of peck at. Picking at a salad in a conference room at Google’s headquarters here, Ms. Mayer says she is vexed by how some perceive her.
Similar: fiddle with, toy with, peck at
idiomatic, transitive To pick on or repeatedly criticize (someone). "[N]oise and disrespect of no kind ain't pleasin' to him. His own folks behave becomin', but strangers go and act as they like. . . . Then we are picked at for their doin's."
Similar: nitpick, badger, bully, find fault, pester, bait, bedevil, beleaguer, persecute, dog, bullyrag, besiege

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"pick at." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pick%20at. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pick at. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pick%20at

Chicago

"pick at." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pick%20at.

BibTeX

@misc{pick_at_2026,
  title = {pick at},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pick%20at},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}