QUIZZES
DISCOVER THE INFLUENCE OF PORTUGUESE ON ENGLISH VIA THIS QUIZ!
We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?
Question 1 of 11
Which of the following animal names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?
Idioms for pick
Origin of pick
1First recorded in 1250–1300; partly from Middle English verb piken, pyken, pikken, pekken “to work with a pick; work or hit with the mouth or beak,” Old English nouns píc “point, pointed tool, pike” and pícung “stigmata,” from the unrecorded verb pícian “to prick”; cognate with Dutch pikken, German picken, Old Norse pikka “to prick, pick”; partly from Old French piquier “to prick, pluck”; see origin at peck2, pike5, pique1
synonym study for pick
1. See choose.
OTHER WORDS FROM pick
pick·a·ble, adjectiveun·pick·a·ble, adjectiveWords nearby pick
Definition for pick (2 of 3)
pick2
[ pik ]
/ pɪk /
noun
a heavy tool consisting of an iron or steel head, usually curved, tapering to a point at one or both ends, mounted on a wooden handle, and used for loosening and breaking up soil, rock, etc.; pickax.
a hammerlike tool for the rough dressing of stone, having two sharp, pyramidal faces.
any pointed or other tool or instrument for picking (often used in combination): a toothpick;an ice pick.
Music. plectrum.
Slang. a large pocket comb having long, widely spaced teeth.
Origin of pick
2First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pikk(e); perhaps variant of pike5
Definition for pick (3 of 3)
pick3
[ pik ]
/ pɪk /
verb (used with object)
to cast (a shuttle).
noun
(in a loom) one passage of the shuttle.
Origin of pick
3First recorded in 1790–95; variant of pitch1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for pick
British Dictionary definitions for pick (1 of 3)
pick1
/ (pɪk) /
verb
noun
Derived forms of pick
pickable, adjectiveWord Origin for pick
C15: from earlier piken to pick, influenced by French piquer to pierce; compare Middle Low German picken, Dutch pikken
British Dictionary definitions for pick (2 of 3)
pick2
/ (pɪk) /
noun
a tool with a handle carrying a long steel head curved and tapering to a point at one or both ends, used for loosening soil, breaking rocks, etc
any of various tools used for picking, such as an ice pick or toothpick
a plectrum
verb
(tr) to pierce, dig, or break up (a hard surface) with a pick
(tr) to form (a hole) in this way
Word Origin for pick
C14: perhaps variant of pike ²
British Dictionary definitions for pick (3 of 3)
pick3
/ (in weaving pɪk) /
verb
(tr) to cast (a shuttle)
noun
one casting of a shuttle
a weft or filling thread
Word Origin for pick
C14: variant of pitch 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Idioms and Phrases with pick
pick
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.