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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

3 entries under this word

Pick

Pick, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. PICKED (pikt); p. pr. & vb. n. PICKING.] [A-S. pyccan, pyccan, D. pik-ken, N. H. Ger. picken, bicken, Dan. pikke, Sw. & Icel. picka, Fr. piquer, Pr., Sp., & Pg. picar, It. piccare, W. pigaw, to prick, pick. Cf. Peck.]

Sense 1. To peck at, like birds with their bills; to strike at with any thing pointed; to act upon with a pointed instrument, so as to pierce, as an apple with a pin; to open, as a lock; to separate, as wool, cotton, hair, oakum, and the like.

Sense 2. To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers, as fruit from a tree or vine, corn from a stalk, and the like; to pluck; sometimes, to clean by means of the teeth; as, a dog picks a bone.

Sense 3. To cleanse, by removing, with a pointed instrument or the fingers, that which is objectionable; as, to pick the teeth; to pick a fowl.

Sense 4. To take away by a quick, pointedly-directed, or unexpected movement; as, a bird picks up a worm; to take up suddenly; as, to pick off the enemy by sharpshooting; to pick a pocket. “Did you pick Master Slender’s purse?” Shak.

Sense 5. To choose; to select; to separate as choice or desirable; to cull;—often with out; hence, to get into by seeking for; as, to pick a quarrel.

Sense 6. To gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together;—often with up; as, to pick up stones.

Sense 7. To pitch or cast. [Obs.] “As high as I could pick my lance.” Shak.

To pick a hole in one’s coat, to find fault.

Pick, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To eat slowly or by morsels; to nibble. 2. To do any thing nicely, or by attending to small things. 3. To steal; to pilfer.

Pick, n.

noun

n. [Fr. pic, a pickax, a pick; Pr. pic, pioche, Sp. & Pg. pico, It. picco. See supra, and cf. Pike.]

  1. A sharp-pointed tool; — often used in composition; as, a tooth-pick; a pick-lock; a pickax; a pickwick.
  2. (Mining & Mech.) An iron tool tapering to a point from a heavy mass or head, in which is inserted, transversely, a wooden handle, sometimes pointed at both ends, and having the handle inserted at the middle. It is used for loosening and breaking up hard earth, ground, stones, &c.

What the miners call “chert” and “whern” . . . is so hard that the picks will not touch it. Woodward.

  1. Choice; right of selection; as, to have one’s pick.
  2. (Print.) Foul matter which collects on printing types from the balls, rollers, bad ink, or from the paper in printing.