picnic
Americannoun
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picnics
plural
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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, 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)
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picnics,
present (3rd person singular)
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picnicked,
past participle, past
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picnicking
present participle
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
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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:
Hochman also held a picnic at the park over Labor Day weekend after saying he would return with his family if he believed it was safe enough.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
At the next picnic table over, a little girl tipped an oyster back then dropped it on the ground—one more shell for the modern midden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Instead tourists at sunlit picnic tables were photographing themselves.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
The previous owner began to expand in the 1990s, adding picnic tables and a larger deck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
With that, he and Aunt Melissa join us at the picnic table.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
That same year, Rosales moved back to L.A. and began organizing lowrider picnics at Legg Lake in Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in South El Monte.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
"Because it's a place for people, for picnics, for livestock to graze," he told AFP, giving only his first name for security reasons.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
Emma adds to the fun by taking her kids fruit picking and also by letting them choose at the supermarket, then having tasty picnics in the garden.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
I have a small complaint about modern picnics.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
Everyone was allowed to play games there, or have picnics in the grassy parts, or hike in the woods.
From "Mystery Map (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #3)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Olivia Rodrigo picnicked in the park with one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
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
On their second date, they picnicked in Central Park.
From New York Times ● Oct. 8, 2021
We had picnicked above the beach among the sand dunes, almost on a kind of plateau.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
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
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
His summer concerts became civic rituals: families picnicking, fans waving lightsabers in time to “The Imperial March” and Williams emerging each night to ovations more often reserved for rock stars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2025
Spending time with friends and her beloved sister Edna, she went swimming and picnicking by Lake Erie.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
