Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🍽️ To eat little 🤏 To pull repeatedly 🗣️ To criticize 🐢 To do slowly
to pick at

to pick at

5 3.8
Pull at something with your fingers again and again, often nervously
  • phrasal verb
  • /pɪk æt/
translation icon : hurgar (en)
  • The child picked at the crumbs on the table, trying to collect them.
  • pick at fingernails
  • pick at cuticles
  • pick at a scab

He's also weird in that, you know, when he gives a talk, he'll be like, like picking at his feet and eating the skin off his feet, right?

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • She nervously picked at her fingernails during the long meeting.

  • I watched the two of them, leaning against the tree, picking at the bark with their pocket knives.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "Rose sat down next to me and picked at the grass for a minute.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • But Paul just kept picking at the skin on his palm and thinking.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Stop picking at that doll's eyes, will you?

    Hope Floats (1998)

  • I looked up and watched him pick at Mr. Busch's sleeve.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Three ravens walked about on the roof and picked at something in the cracks.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Sophie had lunch waiting, and after Laurie picked at it, she decided to lie down.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • In high school, I was the heavy-faced sullen girl slouched in her desk, picking at her pimply face.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • While waiting for the bus, he picked at the loose threads on his jacket.

Synonyms

to pick
vsto pick at
241 1.4

To remove unwanted parts like seeds or stems

is about repeated touching or tugging rather than removing pieces
to finger
vsto pick at
31 2.8

To touch something with your fingers in a careful or curious way

is more repetitive and often shows nervous or distracted handling
to pull at
vsto pick at
12 3.9

To tug gently with your fingers again and again, often when nervous

is similar but often focuses more on small anxious plucking movements
to poke at
vsto pick at
9 2.5

Push gently at something or someone with a finger

involves repeated finger tugs and plucks rather than gentle pushing
to thumb
vsto pick at
4 3.7

To move or touch something using the short, thick finger at the side of the hand

is more about small, anxious tugs than neutral exploration
to pluck at
vsto pick at
3 6.1

To pull lightly and repeatedly at something with your fingers

is more strongly linked to nervous, fidgety finger actions

Antonyms

to release
∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

How Vigorous

to tear off
12 3.0
to pull
∞ 1.0
to pluck
77 3.5
to pick at
5 3.8
to touch
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

pick + at

The primary sense of gently touching or nibbling (eating only a small amount) is directly related to 'pick' (remove small pieces) directed 'at' a target, so a learner who knows the constituents can likely infer the basic meaning. However, the verb+preposition combination extends metaphorically to doing things slowly or reluctantly, a nuance that is less strictly predictable from the parts alone, so full comprehension without exposure is not guaranteed.

Etymology

Pick at comes from using your fingers to pick or pull small things, like a label or a scab, often done without thinking. So it means 'to pluck or pull at something with the fingers, especially repeatedly or nervously'.