Pick , n. [F. pic a pickax, a pick. See Pick, and cf. Pike.]
1. A sharp-pointed tool for picking; -- often used in composition; as, a toothpick; a picklock.
2. (Mining & Mech.)
A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at both ends, wielded by means of a wooden handle inserted in the middle, -- used by quarrymen,
roadmakers, etc.; also, a pointed hammer used for dressing
millstones.
3. A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the
center of a
buckler. [Obs.] "Take
down my buckler . . . and grind the pick on 't."
Beau. & Fl.
4. Choice; right of selection; as, to have one's pick.
France and Russia have the pick of our
stables.
Ld. Lytton. 5. That which would be picked or chosen first; the best; as,
the pick of the flock.
6. (Print.) A particle of ink or paper
imbedded in the hollow of a letter, filling up its face, and occasioning a spot on a printed
sheet. MacKellar.
7. (Painting) That which is
picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an
unevenness in a picture.
8.
(Weawing) The blow
which drives the shuttle, -- the rate of speed
of a loom being reckoned as so many picks per minute; hence, in describing the fineness of a fabric, a weft thread; as, so
many picks to an inch.
Pick dressing (Arch.), in cut stonework, a facing made
by a pointed tool, leaving the surface in little pits or depressions. -- Pick hammer, a pick with one
end sharp and the other
blunt, used by miners.
Pick (?), v. i. 1. To
eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to
nibble.
Why stand'st thou picking? Is thy palate
sore?
Dryden.
2. To do anything nicely or carefully, or by attending to
small things; to select something with care.
3. To steal; to pilfer. "To keep my hands from picking and stealing." Book of Com. Prayer.
To pick up, to improve by
degrees; as, he is picking up in health or business. [Colloq. U.S.]
Pick (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Picked (?); p. pr. &
vb. n. Picking.]
[OE. picken, pikken,
to prick, peck; akin to
Icel. pikka, Sw. picka, Dan.
pikke, D. pikken, G.
picken, F. piquer, W.
pigo. Cf. Peck, v., Pike, Pitch to throw.] 1. To
throw; to pitch. [Obs.]
As high as I could pick my lance.
Shak.
2. To peck at, as a bird with its beak; to strike at with anything pointed; to act upon with
a pointed instrument; to pierce; to prick, as with a pin.
3. To separate or open by means
of a sharp point or points; as, to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.
4. To open (a lock) as by a wire.
5. To pull apart or
away, especially with the fingers; to pluck; to gather, as fruit from a
tree, flowers from the stalk, feathers from a fowl,
etc.
6. To remove something from with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth; as, to
pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket.
Did you pick Master Slender's purse?
Shak. He picks clean teeth, and, busy as he
seems
With an old tavern quill, is hungry yet.
Cowper. 7. To choose; to select; to separate as choice or desirable; to cull; as, to
pick one's company; to
pick one's way; -- often
with out. "One man picked out of ten thousand." Shak.
8.
To take up; esp., to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together; as, to pick rags; -- often with up; as, to pick up a ball or stones; to pick up information.
9. To trim. [Obs.] Chaucer.
To pick at,
to tease or vex by pertinacious annoyance. -- To pick a bone with. See under Bone. -- To pick a thank, to curry favor. [Obs.]
Robynson (More's Utopia). -- To pick off. (a) To pluck; to remove by picking. (b)
To shoot or bring down, one by one; as, sharpshooters pick off the enemy. -- To pick out. (a) To mark out; to variegate; as, to pick
out any dark stuff with lines or spots of bright colors. (b) To select from a
number or quantity. -- To pick to pieces, to pull apart
piece by piece; hence [Colloq.], to analyze; esp., to criticize in detail. -- To pick a quarrel, to give occasion of quarrel intentionally. -- To pick up.
(a) To take up, as with the fingers. (b) To get by repeated efforts; to gather here and there; as, to pick up
a livelihood; to pick up
news.
Hear it pronounced