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

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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.”

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Example Sentences

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

Smith-Njigba’s radar for the ball is why the Seahawks used their first-round pick on him even though they already had a star receiver in DK Metcalf.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Patriots used their first-round pick on quarterback Mac Jones.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Well, it’s a big surprise to me too,” Mr. Blair said, “but I can tell you that the F.B.I. is not going to pay you anything for Claude, or any of the rest of you either. How did you happen to pick on Claude?”

From Literature

I have been burned by the latter before, so I shied away from doing a pre-earnings pick on SharkNinja in early November.

From Barron's

Related Words

• badger
• bully
• get at
• tease
• torment