pick on

British  

verb

1. (tr, preposition) to select (someone) for something unpleasant, esp in order to bully, blame, or cause to perform a distasteful task

---

pick on Idioms  

1. Tease, bully, victimize, as in She told Mom the boys were always picking on her. [Second half of 1800s] This expression is sometimes put as pick on someone your own size, meaning “don't badger someone who is younger, smaller, or weaker than yourself but do so only to an equal.”

---

Example Sentences

“It is vogue now to pick on private credit,” says Andrew Jacobs van Merlen, who runs target-date funds at T. Rowe Price Group.

From Barron's

This was a sport that everyone loved to pick on for being increasingly irrelevant, and now we’re arguing about a ridiculous non-event before the schedule has started.

From The Wall Street Journal

I will stand up to people who are cruel or thoughtless, and I will stand beside those who are too easy to pick on.

From Literature

I am going to have to pick on liberal arts majors.

From Barron's

The Lakers made a deal around the margins when they acquired sharpshooter Luke Kennard from the Atlanta Hawks for Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round draft pick on Thursday morning, according to people with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• badger
• bully
• get at
• tease
• torment