pick up on
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Clippers were so desperate for a star to pick them, they didn’t pick up on the fact that they already had a budding superstar in their midst.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
“Escaping is not the same as knowing what you’re moving toward, and interviewers pick up on that energy right away,” she says.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
More broadly, as a gauge of future readiness, we can only pick up on so much.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
"These things are being designed for virality, and then of course the algorithms pick up on them," said Farid, from GetReal Security.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
“Act naturally,” he said, but I didn’t pick up on it until I was practically in the door to Spanish.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
