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to pick

to pick

21 8.4
To steal small things from someone's pocket or bag
  • verb
  • /pɪk/
: robar
  • l caught him picking my pocket.

Watch your face fucking burn while a monkey sneaks up and picks your pocket.

Examples

  • Twice somebody stepped on her foot; once somebody tried to pick her pocket.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • I stole a hairpin and picked the lock, baby.

  • I got my pocket picked of seven hundred dollars in Vegas some years ago.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • So the government is playing all of these tricks to make sure that they pick your pocket, whether it's explicitly or implicitly.

  • I pick-pocketed a key off this apparatchik.

  • "Them you wearing will do nicely," Silas added on his way to pick the dead man's pockets.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • A drunkard and a coward, he thought, ready to pick a man's pocket or slit his throat.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I caught him picking my pocket at the crowded market.

  • The thief was arrested after picking the man's pocket in broad daylight.

  • She warned her friend not to leave his wallet unattended, as someone might be picking pockets nearby.

Synonyms

to steal
vsto pick
∞ 1.0

Take something that does not belong to you without permission

is narrower, focusing on quiet removal from personal places rather than all theft
to jack
vsto pick
  • Slang
51 8.6

To steal something quickly or secretly

is similar but targets items inside personal places without notice
to pocket
vsto pick
44 3.7

To hide something quickly in a small bag sewn into your clothing

is about removing items from those personal places without notice
to swipe
vsto pick
  • Informal
21 5.5

To take something quickly without the owner noticing

is more careful and secretive, targeting personal places unnoticed
to cop
vsto pick
  • Slang
18 9.0

Take something without permission, often quickly

is a furtive taking specifically from small personal places without notice
to pilfer
vsto pick
18 6.5

To steal small things of little value, often a little at a time

is about single secret removals from personal places rather than repeated petty theft
to rip off
vsto pick
  • Informal
12 6.3

To steal something quickly without the owner knowing

is quieter and more focused on secret removal from personal places
to purloin
vsto pick
4 9.6

To steal something secretly or dishonestly

is more informal and stresses surreptitious removal from personal places
to filch
vsto pick
4 8.4

To steal a small thing quietly when no one is looking

is specifically about removing items from small personal places secretly
to lift
vsto pick
  • Informal
4 8.1

To steal something secretly from a shop or person

focuses on taking from small personal places without notice
to knock off
vsto pick
  • Slang
3 8.4

Steal things, for example electronics or cars

describes a specific secret removal from personal places rather than general slang theft
to hook
vsto pick
  • Slang
1 9.1

To steal something, especially quickly in a crowded place

is about secret removal from personal places rather than general informal theft

Antonyms

81 1.0

An act of giving something back to its owner

6 3.4

Return someone to their family or a thing to its owner

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 Violent

to mug
87 5.8
to rob
852 1.2
to steal
∞ 1.0
to pick
21 8.4
to pilfer
18 6.5

Surface Forms

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

Etymology

Pick meaning to steal from pockets comes from the idea of plucking something out quickly and quietly, so a thief who picks pockets takes items without people noticing.