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

to pick at

1 4.2
Do something slowly and without interest, often doing only small parts
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : picar
  • During the meeting, he nervously picked at his sandwich while listening to the discussion.
  • pick at the food
  • pick at the plate

Examples

  • "Her mother was frowning, picking at a loose thread on her sleeve as she leaned close to the TV screen.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The next morning at nine-thirty, Mom was already walking around the apartment, picking at things.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Teddy stopped picking at the scab but ignored her question.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • It was a Saturday night, and Mark and Lily sat in the hospital cafeteria picking at dinner.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • At dinner, she usually just picks at her food instead of eating a full meal.

  • They sat quietly, picking at the appetizers without much enthusiasm.

Synonyms

to pick
vsto pick at
116 3.6

To eat small amounts and not finish a meal

also describes doing tasks slowly or reluctantly rather than only eating
to nibble
vsto pick at
56 2.0

To eat small, gentle bites slowly or a little at a time

can also mean slow or reluctant action rather than just gentle bites
to have a bite
vsto pick at
17 1.8

Eat a small amount of food as a quick snack

often suggests eating slowly or without enthusiasm rather than casually
to nosh
vsto pick at
  • Informal
4 8.2

To eat a small snack between meals

often implies reluctance or slowness rather than casual snacking
to peck at
vsto pick at
1 4.7

To eat only a little food and not show interest

also applies to slow or reluctant actions beyond eating
to eat like a bird
vsto pick at
  • Informal
1 6.0

To eat only a very small amount of food

can also mean eating slowly or reluctantly, not only tiny appetite

How Eager

to devour
13 2.9
munch
48 2.7
to eat
∞ 1.0
to nibble
56 2.0
to pick at
1 4.2

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 in the sense of doing something slowly comes from the picture of someone taking a job apart in small, slow pieces, like picking at a meal instead of finishing it. So it means 'to do something slowly or in a reluctant way, often without enthusiasm'.