pick at something Definition

pick¹
verb picked, picking

tr & intr
1. To choose or select.

Thesaurus: choose, select, pick out, decide on, opt for, settle on, elect.
2. To detach and gather (flowers from a plant, fruit from a tree, etc).

Thesaurus: gather, collect, accumulate, pluck, pull, cull.
3. To open (a lock) with a device other than a key, often to gain unauthorized entry.
4. To get, take or extract whatever is of use or value from something.

Example: pick a bone clean
Example: pick someone's brains
5. To steal money or valuables from (someone's pocket). See also pickpocket.
6. To undo; to unpick.

Example: pick a dress to pieces
7. To make (a hole) by unpicking.
8. To remove pieces of matter from (one's nose, teeth, a scab, etc) with one's fingernails, etc.
9. To provoke (a fight, quarrel, etc) with someone.

noun

1. The best of a group.

Example: the pick of the bunch
2. One's own preferred selection.

Thesaurus: choice, selection, preference, option.

Idiom: have one's pick (take one's pick)

To keep selecting and rejecting until one is satisfied.

Idiom: pick and choose

To be over-fussy in one's choice.

Idiom: pick holes in something

To find fault with it.

Idiom: pick one's way

To go carefully so as to avoid hazards.
Example: picked her way through the jungle

Idiom: pick someone's brains

To ask someone for information, ideas, etc, and then use it as your own.

Idiom: pick someone or something to pieces

To criticize them or it severely.

Idiom: pick someone up on something

To point out their error.

Idiom: pick up the pieces

To have to restore things to normality or make things better after some trouble or disaster.

Idiom: pick up speed

To increase speed or acelerate gradually.

Etymology: 15c.

Phrasal Verb: pick at something

To eat only small quantities of (one's food).To keep pulling at (a scab, etc) with one's fingernails.

Phrasal Verb: pick people or things off

To shoot them.
Example: picked the snipers off one by one
To deal with (opposition) bit by bit.

Phrasal Verb: pick on someone

To blame them unfairly.To bully them.To choose them for an unpleasant job.

Phrasal Verb: pick on something

To choose it; to light on it.

Phrasal Verb: pick oneself up

To restore oneself to an upright position after a fall.

Phrasal Verb: pick someone out

To select them from a group.To recognize or distinguish them among a group or crowd.

Phrasal Verb: pick something out

To play (a tune) uncertainly, especially by ear.To mark it so as to distinguish it from its surroundings.
Example: beige walls with the picture rail picked out in brown

Phrasal Verb: pick something over

To examine (a collection of things) one by one and reject whatever is unwanted.

Phrasal Verb: pick up

Said of a person, a person's health, or a situation: to recover or improve.
Example: She picked up after seeing you.
Example: Sales have picked up now

Phrasal Verb: pick up or pick something up

To resume.
Example: pick up where one left off
Example: pick up the threads of a relationship
Example: pick up the trail

Phrasal Verb: pick someone up

To arrest or seize them.
Example: was picked up by the police
To go and fetch them from where they are waiting.
Example: I'll pick you up at the station at 6pm
To stop one's vehicle for them and give them a lift.
Example: picked up a hitchhiker
To approach them and successfully invite them, eg to go home with one, especially with a view to sexual relations. See also pick-up.

Phrasal Verb: pick something up

To lift or raise it from a surface, from the ground, etc.To learn or acquire (a habit, skill, language, etc) over a time.To notice or become aware of it.
Example: picked up a faint odour
To obtain or acquire it casually, by chance, etc.
Example: pick up a bargain
Example: pick up an infection
To go and fetch (something waiting to be collected).To receive (a signal, programme, etc).To refer back in conversation or discourse to (a point previously made), in order to deal with it further.To agree to pay (a bill, etc).
Example: pick up the tab

Phrasal Verb: pick something up, off, out

To lift, remove, detach or extract it.
Example: picked a crumb off the carpet