v. 1 Often, pick out. select, choose, cull, sort out, hand-pick, single out, opt for, fix or decide upon or on, elect, settle upon or on, screen (out), sift (out) Melanie was picked to succeed Hubert as president 2 pluck, gather, collect, harvest, bring or take in, garner Scores of extra workers were brought in to pick apples 3 provoke, foment, incite, start, initiate, work or stir up He tried to pick an argument with me about who is taller 4 pick at. a criticize, carp at, find fault with, cavil (at or about), quibble (at or about), pick on, nag (at), niggle (at), harass, pester, annoy, irritate, bother Stop picking at your brother! b nibble (at), peck at We can't get him to eat a thing, he just picks at his food 5 pick off. shoot (down), kill We picked them off one by one as they emerged from the trench 6 pick on. bully, ride, intimidate, abuse, browbeat, badger, harry, hector, harass, tease, taunt, needle, torment Robert must learn not to pick on the smaller boys 7 pick out. a See 1, above. b discern, distinguish, tell apart, make out, recognize, separate, discriminate I was able to pick out a distant rider, approaching swiftly From amongst the forest sounds she picked out the song of the nightingale. 8 pick up. a raise (up), lift (up), heft, hoist, take up The stone is too heavy to pick up Please pick up that piece of paper. b gather, collect, glean, take up I wish you would pick up your clothes c tidy (up), neaten, straighten up or out, clean (up) She refuses to continue to pick up after him d acquire, learn, become acquainted with; master; Colloq get the hang of We picked up a little Spanish on our holiday e acquire, find, come by, get hold of, obtain; buy, purchase, get Basil picked up a few bad habits in the army Let's pick up a bottle of wine on the way. f improve, get better, gain, make headway, recover, perk up, rally, recoup, (make) progress, move ahead, increase, Colloq make a comeback Business usually picks up before Christmas g accelerate, speed up The pace picked up as they approached the finish line h arrest, apprehend, take into custody, Colloq pinch, collar, nab, bust, run in, pull in, Brit nick Two men were picked up trying to break into the bank i call for, give a lift or ride to, collect, go for or US also after, go to get I'll pick you up at the railway station at noon j meet, introduce oneself to, strike up an acquaintance with, accost, make advances to I think she picked him up in a wine bar k catch, come down with, contract, get He picked up a mystery virus in the Tropics
n. 9 selection, choice, option, preference She could have had the pick of any man in the place Take your pick. 10 choicest, best, crème de la crème, cream The early shoppers had already taken the pick of the crop