Join free

Pickup

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.

pickup¹

  • /ˈpɪkʌp/

Where it comes from

From pick + up.

noun pickups · pick-up · pick up

  1. countable, uncountable In a record player, an electromagnetic component that converts the needle vibrations into an electrical signal.
  2. countable, uncountable Electromagnetic coil receiver of metal string oscillations.
  3. countable, uncountable The reception of sound, etc. by such a device. This microphone has very weak pickup.
  4. Canada, US, abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of pickup truck.pickup truck Franklin is beside himself, revving up the engine in the pickup.
  5. attributive, countable, uncountable, usually Impromptu or ad hoc, especially of sports games and teams made up of randomly selected players. Rather than join a basketball league, James decided to play pickup.
  6. countable, uncountable An instance of approaching someone and engaging in romantic flirtation and courting with the intent to pursue romance, a date, or a sexual encounter. Hey, thanks for the drink, but if this is a pickup, I'm not interested.
  7. countable, uncountable A person successfully approached in this manner for romance or sex. "Good Lord! I'm not stopping you from taking on all the pick-ups that come your way."
  8. countable, uncountable In various games, the fielding or hitting of a ball just after it strikes the ground. The fourth seed was dominating her 20-year-old opponent with a series of stinging groundstrokes and athletic drive-volleys, striking again in game five when Paszek flicked a forehand pick-up into the tramlines.
  9. countable, uncountable An item that can be picked up by the player, conferring some benefit or effect; a power-up. Every step of the way you come across absolutely loads of aliens, pick-ups and new and weird obstacles to overcome.
  10. Canada, US, countable, uncountable The act of a challenging party or candidate winning an electoral district held by an incumbent party or candidate. The returns from the election show Apple Party candidate Jane Doe has made a pickup in the district of City West defeating Orange Party Incumbent Joe Smith
  11. countable, uncountable The act of answering a telephone. That's why the phone at the theater's on automatic pickup.
  12. countable, uncountable A relatively minor shot filmed or recorded after the fact to augment previous footage.
  13. countable, uncountable The act of collecting and taking away something or someone, usually in a vehicle. A computer voice tells her that she is supposed to make a pickup in Griffith Park and deliver it to a Reverend Wayne's Pearly Gates franchise in Van Nuys.
  14. uncountable A time during which passengers, such as school children, are picked up. These signs are friendly reminders for road users to slow down during drop-off and pick-up.
  15. uncountable The rate at which a motor vehicle picks up speed. The Willys-Overland won't be the fastest car on the road or have the best pickup, but it will have a top speed of eighty miles per hour, and its makers are confident that no car in its class will excel it in economy of fuel and upkeep.
  16. uncountable The condition of being picked up, or taken up; adoption by some entity. Newsweek gave it a big write-up, as did many trade journals, including, ^([sic]) Editor and Publisher. And our articles get pickup as far west as the Tombstone Epitaph in Arizona.

verb pick-up · pick up

  1. misspelling Misspelling of pick up.pick up

Pickup²

proper noun

  1. A surname.

Talk about this word