to pick
- verb
- /pɪk/
- "The bartender, who had been totally motionless, picked up a glass and began wiping it absently."
- pick up an instrument
You 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
To pull a string lightly to make a short musical note
Gently pull and release a string on an instrument like a guitar or harp to make a sound
Antonyms
- Archaic
To stop doing an activity, especially to stop playing music for good
Idioms
- Informal
To choose which problems to deal with instead of trying to solve every problem
- Informal
Challenge someone of similar size or strength instead of someone weaker
- Informal
To leave a group or activity because you do not get your way
Phrasal Verbs
- Informal
Choose only data that supports an idea and ignore data that disagrees
To start an earlier activity or conversation again after an interruption
- Specialized
To copy one change from a code branch into another without copying other changes
Touching scabs again and again so they do not heal, sometimes meaning you reopen old hurts
- Informal
To ask someone for ideas or advice about something they know well
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.