4 VERB If you pick something from a place, you remove it from there with your fingers or your hand. □ [V n prep] He picked the napkin from his lap and placed it alongside his plate.
5 VERB If you pick your nose or teeth , you remove substances from inside your nose or between your teeth. □ [V n] Edgar, don't pick your nose, dear.
6 VERB If you pick a fight or quarrel with someone, you deliberately cause one. □ [V n + with ] He picked a fight with a waiter and landed in jail. [Also V n]
7 VERB If someone such as a thief picks a lock, they open it without a key, for example by using a piece of wire. □ [V n] He picked each lock deftly, and rifled the papers within each drawer.
8 N‑COUNT A pick is the same as a pickaxe .
9 → see also hand-pick , ice pick
10 PHRASE If you pick and choose , you carefully choose only things that you really want and reject the others. □ We, the patients, cannot pick and choose our doctors.
11 PHRASE If you have your pick of a group of things, you are able to choose any of them that you want. □ Here is an actress who could have her pick of any part.
12 PHRASE If you are told to take your pick , you can choose any one that you like from a group of things. □ [+ of/from ] Accountants can take their pick of company cars.
13 PHRASE If you pick your way across an area, you walk across it very carefully in order to avoid obstacles or dangerous things. □ The girls were afraid of snakes and picked their way along with extreme caution.
14 to pick someone's brains → see brain
15 to pick holes in something → see hole
16 to pick someone's pocket → see pocket
▸ pick at PHRASAL VERB If you pick at the food that you are eating, you eat only very small amounts of it. □ [V P n] Sarah picked at a plate of cheese for supper, but she wasn't really hungry.
▸ pick off PHRASAL VERB If someone picks off people or aircraft, they shoot them down one by one, aiming carefully at them from a distance. □ [V P n] Both groups on either side are just picking off innocent bystanders. □ [V n P ] Any decent shot with telescopic sights could pick us off at random.
▸ pick on
1 PHRASAL VERB If someone picks on you, they repeatedly criticize you unfairly or treat you unkindly. [INFORMAL ] □ [V P n] Bullies pick on younger children.
2 PHRASAL VERB If someone picks on a particular person or thing, they choose them, for example for special attention or treatment. [mainly BRIT ] □ [V P n] When you have made up your mind, pick on a day when you will not be under much stress.
▸ pick out
1 PHRASAL VERB If you pick out someone or something, you recognize them when it is difficult to see them, for example because they are among a large group. □ [V P n] The detective-constable picked out the words with difficulty. □ [V n P ] Steven describes himself as 'a regular guy–you couldn't pick me out of a crowd'.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you pick out someone or something, you choose them from a group of people or things. □ [be V -ed P ] I have been picked out to represent the whole team. □ [V n P ] There are so many great newscasters it's difficult to pick one out. [Also V P n]
3 PHRASAL VERB [usu passive] If part of something is picked out in a particular colour, it is painted in that colour so that it can be seen clearly beside the other parts. □ [be V -ed P ] The name is picked out in gold letters over the shop-front.
▸ pick over PHRASAL VERB If you pick over a quantity of things, you examine them carefully, for example to reject the ones you do not want. □ [V P n] Pick over the fruit and pile on top of the cream.
▸ pick up
1 PHRASAL VERB When you pick something up , you lift it up. □ [V n P ] He picked his cap up from the floor and stuck it back on his head. □ [V P n] Ridley picked up a pencil and fiddled with it.
2 PHRASAL VERB When you pick yourself up after you have fallen or been knocked down, you stand up rather slowly. □ [V pron-refl P ] Anthony picked himself up and set off along the track.
3 PHRASAL VERB When you pick up someone or something that is waiting to be collected, you go to the place where they are and take them away, often in a car. □ [V P n] She went over to her parents' house to pick up some clean clothes. □ [V n P ] I picked her up at Covent Garden to take her to lunch with my mother.
4 PHRASAL VERB If someone is picked up by the police, they are arrested and taken to a police station. □ [be V -ed P ] Rawlings had been picked up by police at his office. □ [V n P ] The police picked him up within the hour. [Also V P n]
5 PHRASAL VERB If you pick up something such as a skill or an idea, you acquire it without effort over a period of time. [INFORMAL ] □ [V P n] Where did you pick up your English? [Also V n P ]
6 PHRASAL VERB If you pick up someone you do not know, you talk to them and try to start a sexual relationship with them. [INFORMAL ] □ [V n P ] He had picked her up at a nightclub on Kallari Street, where she worked as a singer. [Also V P n]
7 PHRASAL VERB If you pick up an illness, you get it from somewhere or something. □ [V P n] They've picked up a really nasty infection from something they've eaten. [Also V n P ]
8 PHRASAL VERB If a piece of equipment, for example a radio or a microphone, picks up a signal or sound, it receives it or detects it. □ [V P n] We can pick up Italian television.