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to pick

to pick

165 4.8
To start a fight or argument by annoying someone
  • verb
  • /pɪk/
translation icon : 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 provoke
vsto pick
144 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
72 7.7

To push people to do violent or illegal acts

is more about personally provoking someone through challenge or insult
to stir up
vsto pick
48 4.8

To make people feel strong emotions like anger or fear

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to instigate
vsto pick
36 6.9

To cause something bad to start

is more about personally provoking someone through challenge or insult
to antagonize
vsto pick
  • US
31 7.6

To make someone angry or unfriendly

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to drive a wedge
vsto pick
13 7.6

To cause people to argue or become divided on purpose

is more about directly provoking one person into a fight
to get a rise out of
vsto pick
  • Informal
8 6.8

Make someone angry or annoyed on purpose by teasing them

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to stir the pot
vsto pick
  • Informal
8 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
8 7.2

To make an argument or feeling worse by encouraging it

is more about starting a personal quarrel by direct provocation
to stir trouble
vsto pick
  • Informal
5 5.3

To cause fights or problems between people on purpose

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to poke the bear
vsto pick
  • Informal
3 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
1 7.9

To make someone angry or upset

is more about directly challenging someone to start a fight
to inflame tensions
vsto pick
  • Literature
1 7.4

Make people more angry and cause conflict between groups

is more about starting a personal quarrel by direct provocation
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
1 7.9

To annoy someone or make them feel defensive

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 shit-stir
vsto pick
  • Offensive
9.9

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

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

To cause trouble between people to get attention

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
to create friction
vsto pick
4.6

To cause disagreement between people or groups

is more about directly provoking one person into a fight

Antonyms

38 5.1

To become friendly again after a disagreement

8 6.3

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

Idioms

Choose any one you want from the options

5 3.7

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

5 5.8

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

Challenge someone of similar size or strength instead of someone weaker

1 8.6

To accept a challenge and try to meet it

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

Leave a meeting or project because you are upset

To get better after a failure and start again

Phrasal Verbs

2.5

To get something from a store or give someone a ride

2.6

To learn or notice something often by chance

834 1.0

To lift something or someone from the ground with your hands

237 2.0

Choose one person or thing from a group

165 3.0

To get better or stronger

to pick on
  • Informal
156 3.5

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

142 3.9

To notice something that is not obvious

to pick up
  • NSFW
126 8.2

To meet someone to start a romantic or sexual relationship

to pick up
  • Informal
125 3.9

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

77 2.8

To pay for something, often for someone else

64 3.0

Notice a sound or sight among other things

24 4.0

To eat small bits of food by pecking like a bird

to cherry-pick
  • Informal
23 6.3

To choose only the best people or things for yourself

To move or work faster

to pick off
  • Offensive
22 8.0

Shoot and kill opponents one by one from a hidden place

20 3.8

To choose carefully by yourself for a special purpose

to pick apart
  • Informal
14 5.2

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

11 3.4

To show a color or detail from another thing

9 4.3

Pull things away one at a time

5 4.6

Eat very small amounts of food when not feeling hungry

5 3.8

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

3 5.7

Keep finding small faults in someone or their ideas

2 3.6

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

2 7.7

To open a lock without a key by using tools

1 7.0

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

1 4.2

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

To start an earlier activity or conversation again after an interruption

to cherry-pick
  • Specialized
6.5

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

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

5.3

To put a finger in your nose to remove mucus

7.8

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

Compounds

26 4.2

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

20 3.5

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

pick-off
  • Specialized
5 7.5

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

4 2.9

A small flat piece for plucking or strumming guitar strings

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
9.8

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

pick mattock
  • Specialized
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
72 7.7
to provoke
144 3.6
to pick
165 4.8
to irritate
78 2.9
to annoy
246 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.