pickup

[ pik-uhp ]

/ ˈpɪkˌʌp /

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See synonyms for pickup on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

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

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.

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.

Automotive.

capacity for rapid acceleration.
acceleration; increase in speed.
Also called pickup truck . a small truck with a low-sided open body, used for deliveries and light hauling.

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

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.

Radio.

the act of receiving sound waves in the transmitting set in order to change them into electrical waves.
a receiving or recording device.
the place from which a broadcast is being transmitted.
interference (def. 4).

Television.

the change of light energy into electrical energy in a television camera.
camera tube.
a telecast made directly from the scene of an action.

a hitchhiker.

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

adjective

composed of or employing whatever persons are available on a more or less impromptu basis: a pickup game of baseball; a pickup dance band.

using whatever ingredients are handy or available: a Sunday night pickup supper.

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Origin of pickup

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pickup in a sentence

What image are you hoping people who pick up this book and read it, come away with?
Tim Howard’s Wall of Intensity|William O’Connor|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Couple guided Stella as she crawled and dipped her chest to pick up each magnet.
Dungeons and Genital Clamps: Inside a Legendary BDSM Chateau|Ian Frisch|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If your ears are tired of slick auto-tuned vocals, pick up this disk for an aural detox.
The Best Albums of 2014|Ted Gioia|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Why call a taxi when you can hail a Lyft to pick up visiting family and friends?
One of a Kind Gifts Are Only a Neighbor Away|Lawrence Ferber|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Although Korra looks at PTSD and assault with supernatural grandiosity, fans were quick to pick up on it in some forums.
Science-Fiction TV Finds a New Muse: Feminism|David Levesley|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We are going to send our butler to the sale to-morrow, to pick up some of that sixty-four.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2(of 2)|Charles Dickens
The majority pick up a job when they can, but are inevitably idle and suffering two-thirds of the time.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
But if they all pick up the broadcast that this is where to get a free ride home, I'll have just another sand trap here.
Fee of the Frontier|Horace Brown Fyfe
Isabel longed for the time when she should enter them and pick up the threads dropped from her mother's nerveless fingers.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
Black Hood had spent thirty minutes of search at break-neck speed in an attempt to pick up the trail of the gray sedan again.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various

British Dictionary definitions for pickup

pick-up

noun

Also called: pick-up arm, tone arm the light balanced arm of a record player that carries the wires from the cartridge to the preamplifier

an electromagnetic transducer that converts the vibrations of the steel strings of an electric guitar or other amplified instrument into electric signals

another name for cartridge (def. 3)

Also called: pick-up truck a small truck with an open body and low sides, used for light deliveries

informal, mainly US an ability to accelerate rapidlythis car has good pick-up

informal a casual acquaintance, usually one made with sexual intentions

informal

a stop to collect passengers, goods, etc
the people or things collected

slang a free ride in a motor vehicle

informal an improvement

slang a pick-me-up

adjective

US and Canadian organized, arranged, or assembled hastily and without planninga pick-up band; pick-up games

verb pick up (adverb)

(tr) to gather up in the hand or hands

(tr) to acquire, obtain, or purchase casually, incidentally, etc

(tr) to catch (a disease)she picked up a bad cold during the weekend

(intr) to improve in health, condition, activity, etcthe market began to pick up

(reflexive) to raise (oneself) after a fall or setback

(tr) to notice or senseshe picked up a change in his attitude

to resume where one left off; return towe'll pick up after lunch; they picked up the discussion

(tr) to learn gradually or as one goes along

(tr) to take responsibility for paying (a bill)he picked up the bill for dinner

(tr) informal to reprimandhe picked her up on her table manners

(tr) to collect or give a lift to (passengers, hitchhikers, goods, etc)

(tr) informal to become acquainted with, esp with a view to having sexual relations

(tr) informal to arrest

to increase (speed)the cars picked up down the straight

(tr) to receive (electrical signals, a radio signal, sounds, etc), as for transmission or amplification

pick up the pieces to restore a situation to normality after a crisis or collapse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with pickup

pick up

Lift, take up by hand, as in Please pick up that book from the floor. [Early 1300s]

Collect or gather, as in First they had to pick up the pieces of broken glass.

Tidy, put in order, as in Let's pick up the bedroom, or I'm always picking up after Pat. [Mid-1800s]

Take on passengers or freight, as in The bus picks up commuters at three stops.

Acquire casually, get without great effort or by accident. For example, I picked up a nice coat at the sale, or She had no trouble picking up French. This usage is even extended to contracting diseases, as in I think I picked up the baby's cold. [Early 1500s]

Claim, as in He picked up his laundry every Friday.

Buy, as in Please pick up some wine at the store on your way home.

pick up the bill or check or tab. Accept a charge in order to pay it, as in They always wait for us to pick up the tab. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]

Increase speed or rate, as in The plane picked up speed, or The conductor told the strings to pick up the tempo.

Gain, as in They picked up five yards on that pass play.

Take into custody, apprehend, as in The police picked him up for burglary. [Colloquial; second half of 1800s]

Make a casual acquaintance with, especially in anticipation of sexual relations, as in A stranger tried to pick her up at the bus station. [Slang; late 1800s]

Come upon, find, detect, as in The dog picked up the scent, or They picked up two submarines on sonar, or I can't pick up that station on the car radio.

Resume, as in Let's pick up the conversation after lunch.

Improve or cause to improve in condition or activity, as in Sales picked up last fall, or He picked up quickly after he got home from the hospital, or A cup of coffee will pick you up. [1700s]

Gather one's belongings, as in She just picked up and left him.

pick oneself up. Recover from a fall or other mishap, as in Jim picked himself up and stood there waiting. [Mid-1800s] Also see the subsequent entries beginning with pick up.