picnic
Americannoun
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an excursion or outing in which the participants carry food with them and share a meal in the open air.
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the food eaten on such an excursion.
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Also called picnic ham,. Also called picnic shoulder. a section of pork shoulder, usually boned, smoked, and weighing 4–6 pounds.
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Informal. an enjoyable experience or time, easy task, etc..
Being laid up in a hospital is no picnic.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a trip or excursion to the country, seaside, etc, on which people bring food to be eaten in the open air
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any informal meal eaten outside
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( as modifier )
a picnic lunch
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informal a troublesome situation or experience
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informal a hard or disagreeable task
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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picnicsimple
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picnicssimple
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have picnickedperfect
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has picnickedperfect
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am picnickingprogressive
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are picnickingprogressive
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is picnickingprogressive
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have been picnickingperfect progressive
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has been picnickingperfect progressive
Past
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picnickedsimple
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had picnickedperfect
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was picnickingprogressive
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were picnickingprogressive
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had been picnickingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of picnic
1740–50; < German Pic-nic (now Picknick ) < French pique-nique, rhyming compound < ?
Explanation
A picnic is a meal that you eat outside. For your birthday, you might take a picnic lunch (including celebratory cupcakes) to a nearby beach with some friends. You can use the word picnic for both the occasion — "Let's go on a picnic!" — and for the meal itself: "I am packing the best picnic to take on our hike." It's also a verb, meaning "to eat outside." And when a friend describes a difficult task and adds, "It was no picnic," they mean to emphasize how hard it was — the opposite of an easy, breezy picnic.
Vocabulary lists containing picnic
Memorial Day Words
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Words to Know and Academic Words, Unit 6
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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.
They included a gift of land to the parish council, which will become a park and circular walk with a picnic area for members of the public, according to Local Democracy Reporting Service.
From BBC • Jun. 21, 2026
Somewhere along the line, the ideal picnic became a scattering of photogenic snacks: a baguette, a wedge of cheese, a handful of berries, perhaps a tiny jar of olives if someone was feeling ambitious.
From Salon • Jun. 18, 2026
Nevertheless, around 100 people gathered at the end of May to hold a protest picnic against the plans.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
At that event, the artists sketched designs on large sculptures shaped like soccer balls and an oversized picnic table, also for community members to paint.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
“I don’t know—” Jade stretches her long legs out under the picnic table.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
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.
