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to cherry-pick

to cherry-pick

6.5
To copy one change from a code branch into another without copying other changes
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈtʃɛriˌpɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : hacer cherry-pick
  • She had to cherry-pick the relevant commits to ensure only the crucial updates were included in the new version.

Examples

  • (Witness the lead maintainer of a Git-hosted project confessing insufficient "Git-fu" to cherry-pick a series of commits here.)

    Blog text (14)
  • To fix the bug, the developer decided to cherry-pick the latest changes from the main branch.

  • While that may be the case, it is a bit of cherry picking.

    Blog text (28)
  • Check out the branch you want that applied to... git cherry-pick... you now have enough git-fu to cherry-pick.

    Blog text (14)
  • Check out the branch you want that applied to... git cherry-pick... you now have enough git-fu to cherry-pick.

    Blog text (14)
  • When preparing for the release, he opted to cherry-pick certain features that had been tested successfully.

Antonyms

192 3.2

To join two or more things so they become one

How Specific

to cherry-pick
  • Specialized
6.5
patch
  • Specialized
75 3.8
to merge
192 3.2

Surface Forms

cherry-pick infinitive
cherry-picked past participle
cherry-picking present participle
cherry-picks third person singular

Morphology

cherry-pick = cherry + pick (transparent) = cherry + pick

The software sense is a metaphorical extension of the basic compound 'cherry' + 'pick' meaning to select particular items; the morphological structure remains clear.

Etymology

Cherry-pick in software uses the same image of choosing the best fruit: cherry and pick. It means to take one small change from one place and put it into another place without taking everything, so you only move the change you want.