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to pick

to pick

250 4.8
To start a fight or argument by annoying someone
  • verb
  • /pɪk/
: provocar
  • How can I have a good attitude when you've been picking on me all day?
  • pick a fight
  • pick on others
  • bullies pick on others

This this is where he picks a fight with the Teamsters.

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Examples

  • I wish you wouldn't pick on Rose and tease her like that.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • And I wish you wouldn't pick on the poor girl all the time.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The next time you want to hit somebody, pick on somebody your own size.

  • I know you have a bone to pick with me.

  • I got a bone to pick with you!

  • Since when have I been picking on you?

  • Some felt that students who got picked on could potentially develop behavioral problems or even become violent.

    Academic text (2003)
  • He's no fun to pick on anymore since his old man died.

  • Whatever the situation or causes, bullies usually pick on others as a way of dealing with their own problems.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Stop picking on him; he is too sensitive to handle your jokes.

Synonyms

to stir up
vsto pick
126 4.8

To make people feel strong emotions like anger or fear

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to provoke
vsto pick
87 3.6

Annoy someone again and again to make them react

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to incite
vsto pick
  • NSFW
75 7.7

To push people to do violent or illegal acts

is more about personally provoking someone through challenge or insult
to instigate
vsto pick
37 6.9

To cause something bad to start

is more about personally provoking someone through challenge or insult
to antagonize
vsto pick
  • US
28 7.6

To make someone angry or unfriendly

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to drive a wedge
vsto pick
14 7.6

To cause people to argue or become divided on purpose

is more about directly provoking one person into a fight
to stir trouble
vsto pick
  • Informal
14 5.3

To cause fights or problems between people on purpose

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to stir the pot
vsto pick
  • Informal
13 8.0

To cause trouble by saying things to make people argue

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to fan the flames
vsto pick
  • Informal
11 7.2

To make an argument or feeling worse by encouraging it

is more about starting a personal quarrel by direct provocation
to get a rise out of
vsto pick
  • Informal
10 6.8

Make someone angry or annoyed on purpose by teasing them

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to poke the bear
vsto pick
  • Informal
4 8.4

To do something on purpose to make an angry or dangerous person react

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to raise hackles
vsto pick
3 7.9

To make someone angry or upset

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
2 7.9

To annoy someone or make them feel defensive

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to inflame tensions
vsto pick
  • Literature
2 7.4

Make people more angry and cause conflict between groups

is more about starting a personal quarrel by direct provocation
to create friction
vsto pick
1 4.6

To cause disagreement between people or groups

is more about directly provoking one person into a fight
to rattle the cage
vsto pick
  • Informal
1 7.8

To do or say something on purpose to upset someone and see their reaction

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to stir up drama
vsto pick
  • Informal
1 7.0

To cause trouble between people to get attention

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to shit-stir
vsto pick
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To say or do things that cause arguments and make people angry

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
8.9

To annoy someone so they become defensive

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to open a hornets' nest
vsto pick
  • Informal
7.7

To cause a lot of trouble and anger among people

is more about starting a personal quarrel by direct provocation
to set by the ears
vsto pick
  • Informal
9.6

To make people argue or fight

is more about directly provoking one person into a fight

Antonyms

49 5.1

To become friendly again after a disagreement

9 6.3

To bring peace to a place after fighting, often by using force

Idioms

Choose any one you want from the options

Challenge someone of similar size or strength instead of someone weaker

6 3.7

The best or most wanted one in a group, like the strongest puppy

1 8.6

To accept a challenge and try to meet it

1 5.8

To choose which problems to deal with instead of trying to solve every problem

Leave a meeting or project because you are upset

To get better after a failure and start again

To leave a group or activity because you do not get your way

Phrasal Verbs

∞ 2.5

To get something from a store or give someone a ride

∞ 1.0

To lift something or someone from the ground with your hands

776 2.6

To learn or notice something often by chance

303 2.0

Choose one person or thing from a group

to pick on
  • Informal
201 3.5

To say mean things to someone again and again because they seem weaker

198 3.0

To get better or stronger

185 3.9

To notice something that is not obvious

to pick up
  • Informal
114 3.9

To take someone to the police because they are suspected of a crime

71 3.0

Notice a sound or sight among other things

to pick up
  • NSFW
45 8.2

To meet someone to start a romantic or sexual relationship

to cherry-pick
  • Informal
37 6.3

To choose only the best people or things for yourself

to pick off
  • Offensive
36 8.0

Shoot and kill opponents one by one from a hidden place

34 2.8

To pay for something, often for someone else

25 4.3

Pull things away one at a time

25 3.8

To choose carefully by yourself for a special purpose

To move or work faster

21 3.8

To ask someone for ideas or advice about something they know well

to pick apart
  • Informal
17 5.2

To find faults in ideas or work by pointing out small problems

14 3.8

Pull at something with your fingers again and again, often nervously

10 5.7

Keep finding small faults in someone or their ideas

9 7.7

To open a lock without a key by using tools

4 3.6

To look through items carefully to choose the best or remove bad ones

3 3.4

To show a color or detail from another thing

2 7.0

Choose only data that supports an idea and ignore data that disagrees

2 4.6

Eat very small amounts of food when not feeling hungry

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

to cherry-pick
  • Specialized
1 6.5

To copy one change from a code branch into another without copying other changes

1 4.0

To eat small bits of food by pecking like a bird

1 7.8

To put a needle into dropped or unfinished loops to fix knitting

1 4.2

Do something slowly and without interest, often doing only small parts

1 5.3

To put a finger in your nose to remove mucus

Compounds

25 3.5

A metal tool with a sharp point that you use to break blocks of ice

16 4.2

A drink or small activity that makes you feel more energetic when tired

5 2.9

A small flat piece for plucking or strumming guitar strings

pick-off
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A play where the pitcher or catcher throws quickly to tag a runner off base

A player chosen by a team's captain to play in a game

1 7.9

A small hooked tool to clean mud and stones from a horse's hoof

nose-pick
  • Offensive
1 8.6

Putting a finger inside your nose or a person who does this

Niemann-Pick disease
  • Specialized
1 9.8

A rare disease passed from parents that makes fat build up in the body's cells

pick mattock
  • Specialized
1 8.6

A tool with a pointed end and a flat blade for digging and breaking hard soil or rock

pick-mattock
  • Specialized
8.4

A hand tool with a pointed end and a flat blade for digging and breaking hard rocky soil

9.9

A girl who wants men's approval by putting herself or other women down

How Provoking

to incite
  • NSFW
75 7.7
to provoke
87 3.6
to pick
250 4.8
to irritate
57 2.9
to annoy
144 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Etymology

Pick meaning to start a fight comes from the image of choosing someone to bother or 'picking on' them, so to pick a quarrel is to begin or provoke an argument.