picking
Americannoun
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the act of a person or thing that picks.
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something that is or may be picked or picked up.
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the amount picked.
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pickings,
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scraps or gleanings.
the pickings of a feast.
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profits or gains; spoils.
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of picking
before 900; Middle English; Old English picung (once) a mark made by picking; see pick 1, -ing 1
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.
Picking an index just to avoid big IPOs isn’t likely to boost returns.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
Picking a game at random, the cheapest tickets I could find for the match between England and Ghana in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on June 20 were about $750 each.
From Salon • Jun. 11, 2026
Picking individual midstream names can be complex for other reasons, too.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
Picking up Houghton’s script, the director recalls feeling relieved.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026
Picking up the wax, they went to a special place they knew and there Ngwabi’s eldest sister made the wax into a bird.
From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith
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.
