pickup

American  

[pik-uhp] / ˈpɪkˌʌp /

noun

• pickups
  plural

1. an improvement, as in health, business conditions, work, production, etc.

2. Informal. pick-me-up.

3. Informal. a casual, usually unintroduced acquaintance, often one made in hope of a sexual relationship.

4. an instance of stopping for or taking aboard passengers or freight, as by a train, ship, taxicab, etc., especially an instance of taking freight or a shipment of goods onto a truck.

5. the person, freight, or shipment so taken aboard.

   The cab driver had a pickup at the airport who wanted to be driven to the docks.

6. Automotive.

   1. capacity for rapid acceleration.

   2. acceleration; increase in speed.

   3. Also called pickup truck.  a small truck with a low-sided open body, used for deliveries and light hauling.

7. Baseball. the act of fielding a ball after it hits the ground.

8. Also called cartridge.  a small device attached to the end of a phonograph tone arm that contains a stylus and the mechanism that translates the movement of the stylus in a record groove into a changing electrical voltage.

9. Radio.

   1. the act of receiving sound waves in the transmitting set in order to change them into electrical waves.

   2. a receiving or recording device.

   3. the place from which a broadcast is being transmitted.

   4. interference.

10. Television.

    1. the change of light energy into electrical energy in a television camera.

    2. camera tube.

    3. a telecast made directly from the scene of an action.

11. a hitchhiker.

12. Metalworking. (in the cold-drawing of metal) the adhesion of particles of the metal to the die or plug.

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adjective

1. composed of or employing whatever persons are available on a more or less impromptu basis.

   a pickup game of baseball; a pickup dance band.

2. using whatever ingredients are handy or available.

   a Sunday night pickup supper.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pickups
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pickup

First recorded in 1855–60; noun use of verb phrase pick up

Explanation

A pickup is a truck with an open bed, perfect for helping a friend move into a new apartment. It's also the act of picking something up — so you might make the furniture pickup in your pickup. The meanings of pickup include takeout: "I ordered the pad Thai for pickup." It also means "acceleration," like your dad's speedy car with amazing pickup or the pickup in sales at your lemonade stand on a hot day. And in sports a pickup game is impromptu and casual. As for a light truck with a closed cab, pickup is short for pickup truck, named after how handy it is for picking things up and delivering them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pickup pickups

Long queues of people could be seen evacuating towns on foot, by motorbike and car, some piled into the back of pickup trucks.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Ford is the industry’s biggest buyer of aluminum, which it uses for the bestselling F-150 pickup, and it has been forced to rely more heavily on imported aluminum after factory fires sidelined its biggest supplier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

French soccer star joins pickup match in Manhattan.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

The wait for the Dodger Stadium Express or a rideshare pickup, and the slog out of the stadium and along Sunset Boulevard, can be excruciating.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

Figure 1.59: If a piece begins with a pickup measure, the final measure of the piece is shortened by the length of the pickup measure.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Ram automaker added more powerful engines to its pickups, but there was one big problem: they didn’t sound the same.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

These layoffs are part of an initiative aimed at streamlining package pickups and deliveries by merging ground and express delivery networks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Not long ago, Ram thought it had dreamed up the perfect engine for its pickups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Sales of traditionally powered vehicles rose 1% as Ford’s pickups continued to shine in the U.S. — the company said that some of its off-road-vehicle trims accounted for nearly a quarter of its U.S. sales.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

The main street was wide—with sun-bleached cars and pickups parked at an angle to the curb—but only a few blocks long, flanked on both sides with low, flat-roofed buildings made of adobe or brick.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

Related Words

• acceleration