picker

[pik-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR picker ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

someone or something that picks.

a special tool or machine for picking fruit, vegetables, etc., from their plants.

a machine that picks fibers.

a person who gathers fruit, flowers, etc.

Slang. a player of a stringed instrument, especially a banjo.

Metallurgy. a pointed rod for removing a pattern from a half mold.

Origin of picker

First recorded in 1520–30; pick¹ + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for picker

topnotch, outstanding, exclusive, selected, preferred, selective, eclectic, privileged, prime, champion, top, fat, choice, pick, winning, elite, cream, limited, elect, chosen

Examples from the Web for picker

Contemporary Examples of picker

Then adjust the reach of your picker and reach for your fruit.
The 15 Best Things to See at Frieze Art Fair London 2013
Chloë Ashby
October 17, 2013
And she liked working with Picker before, both on his first opera Emmeline, as well as An American Tragedy.
‘Dolores Claiborne’ Star on Her Sudden New Role
Emily Wilson
September 21, 2013

Historical Examples of picker

I suppose the boy was a picker just like the rest but at any rate he had some idea of fairness.
The Hilltop Boys
Cyril Burleigh
He says that the first player has scarcely shouted "Picker up!"
Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium
Jessie H. Bancroft
It is used for that purpose as picker sticks in textile mills.
American Forest Trees
Henry H. Gibson
This "picker waste" also forms a useful source of raw material.
Animal Proteins
Hugh Garner Bennett
A picker was handed to him, by one who also held the powder-horn for priming.
Matilda Montgomerie
Major (John) Richardson

British Dictionary definitions for picker

picker

noun

a person or thing that picks, esp that gathers fruit, crops, etc

(in weaving) a person or the part of the loom that casts the shuttle

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

Word Origin and History for picker

1520s, "one who steals;" literal use "one who picks" is from 1660s; agent noun from pick (v.). From 1923 as "one who plays the banjo." Picker-upper attested from 1936.