to pick
- verb
- /pɪk/
- Conek swore under his breath and picked at his food with a tine.
OK, Do you ever pick and eat your dry skin?
- OK, Do you ever pick and eat your dry skin?
Examples
-
The next morning at nine-thirty, Mom was already walking around the apartment, picking at things.
Fiction book (1992) -
Isabel nibbled at the peas and picked a few morsels of hamburger from the orange sauce.
Fiction book (1994) -
OK, Do you ever pick and eat your dry skin?
-
Number two, how could you just like pick any food that you eat every day?
-
"Rose sat down next to me and picked at the grass for a minute.
Fiction book (1993) -
There was simply nothing to talk about, and I picked at my salad.
Fiction book (1990) -
Julie reflected, as she picked at the shrimp, that this was one strange character.
Fiction book (1994) -
When I feel nervous, I tend to pick at my food rather than eat it properly.
-
She couldn't help but pick at her salad, taking tiny bites rather than finishing her meal.
-
During the movie, I liked to pick at the popcorn without really paying attention to how much I was eating.
Synonyms
Put food or drink into your mouth, chew it and swallow it
To eat small, gentle bites slowly or a little at a time
To eat a small piece of food or reduce something a little
To eat a small amount of food between meals
Eat a small amount of food as a quick snack
To eat small, quick bites like a bird
Eat very small amounts of food when not feeling hungry
To eat a small snack between meals
To eat only a little food and not show interest
To eat only a very small amount of food
Antonyms
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 Much
Surface Forms
Etymology
Pick meaning to eat in small bites comes from taking little pieces one by one, so when someone picks at their food they only eat a little.