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.
See Examples For:
For a picnic - or picky bits - prices can vary.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Last Saturday morning, dozens of families set up their canopies for the annual Chavez Ravine community picnic, bringing photo albums and other cherished keepsakes to display table side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
A clown paints children's faces, music fills the air, as families spread picnic carpets across the grass.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
They know that you don’t need more than a blanket—and good food—to dine outside, but that a few carefully selected supplies can make a picnic an occasion that rivals any dinner party.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
It was a squat, humble box of a building with a big rectangular service window nestled at the end of a long row of covered parking spots and green picnic tables, mostly occupied.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
I have a small complaint about modern picnics.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
In December, a stone highway marker honoring Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, suddenly appeared in Marion Square, planted alongside a major thoroughfare in a hub of picnics, farmers markets and celebrations in Charleston, S.C.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
People climb on to it to get selfies, lift their children on to it, or eat picnics on its broad flanks.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026
Newsom has reported receiving $72,000 in travel, staff picnics and holiday events from the protocol foundation since he took office in 2019, according to the disclosures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
He went to museums, took long, predictable walks—and enjoyed family picnics.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Young women and men picnicked side by side on the pavement, chanting: “Woman! Life! Freedom!”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 27, 2022
Streets of identical high-rise apartments were interspersed with parks and wide, tree-lined streets, while residents picnicked beside the Siverskyi Donets river and in forests nearby.
From Reuters ● May 30, 2022
People picnicked around the tomb and even used it as a table for their food.
From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2021
And when we picnicked on a Sunday night, the meal seemed to stretch the weekend a little longer.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2021
They picnicked in tired solitude, eating as much as they wanted.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
Still, hundreds of families sat out under mild, cloudy skies, picnicking amid sweeping views of the snow-capped Alborz mountains -- a postcard scene at odds with a city under regular attack.
From Barron's ● Apr. 2, 2026
We’re still picnicking under piñatas, and some of us still gather at newsstands to flip through artful magazines and meet like-minded strangers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
When we arrive, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish couple are picnicking under the trees outside.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026
At first, these trolley parks were simply gardens and picnicking grounds, but in time other attractions and rides like roller coasters and Ferris wheels were added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Some large creature had been on the island, perhaps picnicking, and had gone away forgetting the book and the watch.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
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.
