pick off

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pick off

verb picks off · picking off · picked off

literally To remove by picking. Before you recycle the bottle you need to pick off the label.
To dispose of tasks, obstacles, opponents etc. precisely, one by one. Let's pick off these issues starting from the top.
To shoot one by one. The sniper picked off the incoming police one at a time.
To throw out a runner by tagging them whilst they are not in contact with any of the three bases or home plate. The pitcher attempted to pick off the runner at first, but he was safe.
To intercept, such as a ball in flight. But the World Cup winning veteran's left boot was awry again, the attempt sliced horribly wide of the left upright, and the saltires were waving aloft again a moment later when a long pass in the England midfield was picked off to almost offer up a breakaway try.

noun pick offs

An instance of throwing out a batter leading off base. The final out of the game was determined by a pick off.

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{pick_off_2026,
  title = {pick off},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pick%20off},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}