to pick
- verb
- /pɪk/
- "The bartender, who had been totally motionless, picked up a glass and began wiping it absently."
- pick up an instrument
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Watch on YouTubeYou pick one finger, pick with another finger, pick with the thumb.
- You pick one finger, pick with another finger, pick with the thumb.
- Right, because I don't know, you pick some chord.
Examples
-
And there was this beautiful little girl running down the beach picking up the starfish.
-
You pick one finger, pick with another finger, pick with the thumb.
-
I still play, but Peter has never picked up a violin since we left Germany.
Fiction book (1991) -
When they'd gone farther still, Islief bent to pick up something from the ground.
Fiction book (1992) -
Storm curiously turns his back on Trent for a moment to pick up handcuffs off the floor.
Fiction book (1990) -
Julin Ocoa, beneath an evergreen tree, has picked up his violin and is playing: Debussy's Petite Suite.
Academic text (2007) -
He loves to pick the strings of his guitar to create beautiful melodies.
-
She learned to pick the violin expertly, making it sound like a professional performance.
-
He decided to pick a few notes on the piano before going to bed.
Synonyms
To pull something out quickly with the fingers
To play a string instrument by sweeping fingers or a pick across the strings in a steady rhythm
Pull at something with your fingers again and again, often nervously
Gently pull and release a string on an instrument like a guitar or harp to make a sound
To pull a string lightly to make a short musical note
Antonyms
- Archaic
To stop doing an activity, especially to stop playing music for good
Idioms
- Informal
Challenge someone of similar size or strength instead of someone weaker
- Informal
To choose which problems to deal with instead of trying to solve every problem
- Informal
To leave a group or activity because you do not get your way
Phrasal Verbs
- Informal
To ask someone for ideas or advice about something they know well
- Informal
Choose only data that supports an idea and ignore data that disagrees
To start an earlier activity or conversation again after an interruption
Touching scabs again and again so they do not heal, sometimes meaning you reopen old hurts
- Specialized
To copy one change from a code branch into another without copying other changes
Compounds
- Specialized
A play where the pitcher or catcher throws quickly to tag a runner off base
- Specialized
A rare disease passed from parents that makes fat build up in the body's cells
- Specialized
A tool with a pointed end and a flat blade for digging and breaking hard soil or rock
- Specialized
A hand tool with a pointed end and a flat blade for digging and breaking hard rocky soil
How Forceful
Surface Forms
Etymology
Pick meaning to pluck strings comes from the action of pulling single notes with a finger or a small tool, so to pick a guitar is to play by plucking the strings.