Synonyms

pick of the litter

Idioms

The best of a group, as in He was first in the ticket line so he had the pick of the litter. This term, alluding to the most desirable one from a litter of puppies or kittens, supplanted such earlier variants as pick of the market, pick of the parish, and pick of the basket. [Early 1900s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

pick of the litter

When McConnell stepped down as leader, he had pick of the litter over committee assignments.

From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2025

And at the end of each weekend, I had the pick of the litter with jerseys.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2023

“Gravity” is perhaps the pick of the litter here.

From Scientific American ● May 27, 2022

Feline fans have their pick of the litter when it comes to helping out at this no-kill cat shelter in Gaithersburg.

From Washington Post ● May 28, 2018

Danny was given his own pick of the litter, which included a beach-green shirt that said AHOY!

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023